Hidden Away
by FlameOfAFriend94
Summary: When a simple mission goes awry, Hinata Hyuga is left behind by her teammates.  What will happen when she stumbles upon a place nobody from her village was ever supposed to find?  What will happen to Hinata?
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hi readers! This is my first fanfiction, so be nice, please! Constructive criticism is okay, though (so is compliments!). This story takes place shortly after Tsunade comes to the village. Thoughts are in italics (if you didn't know already). I will try to update this story every other day or so. For the record, I do not own Naruto. Now, for the part you've been waiting for: the story!**

Hidden Away

Prologue

Blood.

That was the first thing Hinata noticed as she stepped into the clearing alongside Shino and Kiba, her teammates, and it absolutely horrified her. There wasn't supposed to be any blood. It was a simple mission: find and bring back the stolen scroll. It wasn't even an important scroll, and the thief barely got away. The thief was identified as a sand ninja, and a weak one at that. So why was there blood? Oh, so much blood!

Blood on the grass.

Blood on the trees.

Blood on the hands of so many ninja . . . .

Wait, why are there that many ninja? And what's that in their-

"Hinata, move!"

**I know, I know. It's short . . . but what do you think? Review please! If you like, I will write more (longer) chapters! **


	2. The Details

**A/N: Here's the first chapter you've (hopefully) been awaiting! I do not own Naruto or any of the characters (sadly). Enjoy! (:**

Hidden Away

Chapter One

-Flashback-

_Four Hours Ago . . . ._

"You c-called, Lady Tsunade?" Hinata asked, stepping into the Hokage's room. It was different, to say the least. Yet, upon observing, Hinata could find nothing that had changed besides the Hokage sitting in the chair before her. The room had a different air, a different feeling, than when the third Hokage resided in it. Tsunade's presence changed everything.

"Yes, Hinata. You may sit down, if you please. We are still waiting for Kiba and Shino to arrive." Tsunade turned around in her chair, looking out the wide, wrap-around window in the room. "The village sure has recovered well, has it not? In such a short time, look at the progress! It is all thanks to the faithful ninja of the Leaf."

"O-of course." Hinata silently cursed herself under her breath. Could she ever _not _stutter? She was in the presence of the Hokage, for goodness sakes.

"Unfortunately, not all of the Leaf's ninja have stayed faithful." What was Tsunade implying? It goes without saying that Hinata wasn't the strongest ninja. She wasn't the most confident, either, but she prided herself in staying true to her village, her people, and herself. So where was Tsunade going with this?

In the middle of Hinata's mind-babble, Kiba walked in, with Shino not far behind. "What's all this talk about staying faithful?" Kiba asked as Akamaru leaped out of his jacket. Akamaru hopped onto Hinata's lap unexpectedly, causing her to emit a quiet yelp. Smiling tentatively, Hinata silently cursed herself. Again.

Tsunade smiled and opened her arms in welcome. "Shino, Kiba, I'm glad you could make it. Please, take a seat, and be quick about it. We have much to talk about." With a slight nod from each of them, Shino and Kiba took the two seats next to Hinata. Akamaru snuggled into the front of Kiba's shirt.

"I have a mission for the three of you," Tsunade started. "It is not a tough one, but it is of the utmost importance." She slid a paper with the details towards the team. "You must travel to the outskirts of the village and track a man. He is a sand shinobi, suspected to be your level. This man has taken a Leaf scroll from the academy. While the scroll has no secrets of the Leaf Village, only basic jutsu taught to all ninja, we cannot tolerate this thievery. Now, this is where you three come in; bring back the scroll, and the man, if possible."

Hinata nodded. The mission didn't sound too difficult. Anyway, she had Shino and Kiba, so what could go wrong?

"Before you leave for the mission, I have one more thing to tell you. In all the chaos of rebuilding the village, you may not have noticed. In fact, I would hope that you wouldn't notice, since we have been trying to keep the information a secret." Tsunade looked down, a look of dismay on her face. "We have had several ninja go missing in the past week."

Kiba jumped forward in his seat. "Why wouldn't you tell us this earlier? We could have been searching for them! Who's missing?" Akamaru barked while Kiba screamed.

"Calm down, Kiba, and get your dog under control. I didn't tell you because we have the Anbu on the case already, and like I said, we are trying to keep this a secret. The village has enough problems as it is. I only told you three in case you happen to find them along the course of your mission."

It was silent for a few moments, until Shino asked the question everyone was wondering. "So who's missing?"

"A few teachers from the academy, an Anbu Black Op, some civilians, and Neji Hyuga."

Hinata cringed at the name. Her entire world froze. Neji? "N-no . . . ," she muttered softly.

"You've gotta be kidding me?" said Kiba.

Why Neji? What did he ever do? While Hinata disliked Neji, she would never wish anything bad on him. "N-n-no . . . ."

"I kid you not, child. This is a very serious matter," said Tsunade.

No, not Neji. Hinata must have heard wrong. Nothing could happen to Neji. No, it's not possible. "N-no, n-no, no. N-not N-neji. P-please, not N-neji."

"So when do we-," Kiba cut off mid sentence. "What's wrong with Hinata?"

Why? Why Neji? Why now? Why not her? She was the weak one. She is the one who deserves it. Not Neji. "N-neji . . ."

"She's shaking," observed Shino.

"Well, duh!" Kiba exclaimed. "Just look at her! What's wrong with her?"

"Boys!" yelled Tsunade. "Do not argue. It does not help."

It's all her fault. She should be stronger. She should have known. She should have helped. She should have done _something. _No, this can't be happening. As an arm went around her, Hinata jumped. She looked up into Kiba's eyes.

"Don't worry, Hinata. You don't need to be afraid. We will take care of you. You're safe."

Is that really what he thought this was about? Hinata wasn't worried for herself. She was worried for Neji. Why couldn't he see that? "K-kiba . . . ," she muttered.

"Yes, Hinata?"

"Thank you." She meant it, too. The last thing Hinata thought before everything went black was that, for once, she didn't stutter.

**A/N: That's it for this chapter! Sorry it took so long to upload. I've been really busy . . . but you probably don't care about that. I promise I will update quick from now on, as long as you people review! Seriously, review, please!(:**


	3. The Mission

**A/N: Thanks to dreamgirl108, Catherine3, and Hyuga09 for being my reviewers so far! I know that 148 of you have read my story so far and 145 of you didn't review...that makes me sad, so please review? It only takes a second and it makes my day...so review please? Here's the next chapter!(:**

Hidden Away

Chapter Two

-Flashback-

_One Hour Ago_

When Hinata woke up, the first thing she realized was that she was not in a place she recognized. The bed she was laying on was brown and the blanket over her was scratchy (definably not her white bed and silk sheets). This fact confused her.

The second thing she realized was that she felt very, very groggy. Her head hurt immensely, which did _not_ help with her being confused since she could hardly think through the pounding in her head.

The third, and final, thing Hinata realized, or remembered, to be specific, was that she was not the only one missing from her home.

"Neji!" Hinata screamed as she bolted upright. At least, she meant to scream. What it probably sounded like was a mumble mixed with a stutter. Hinata groaned as the pounding in her head increased.

"Are you okay? Here, lay back down." Kiba stood over Hinata, a large backpack over his shoulder. He gently nudged Hinata back down, much to her obvious dislike. Kiba gave a weak

half-smile in return. "Sorry, Hinata. Just sit there for a couple of minutes, please? It'll make me feel a whole lot better."

Nodding, Hinata fell back into a cluster of pillows. "K-kiba . . . what h-happened?" The last thing Hinata remembered was hearing the news about . . . no. She wouldn't think about it.

Kiba paused from packing his backpack for a moment and looked at Hinata. "Lady Tsunade explained the mission and the missing people, then you kinda fainted." Got to hand it to Kiba to be blunt and get to the point. "We had three hours until the mission at that point, so I just brought you here. I would have woken you sooner, but you looked like you needed the rest." Kiba paused for a moment. "Anyways, we are leaving soon, about thirty minutes, so you might want to get ready." With that final thought, Kiba left the room.

On the bright side, Hinata had no packing to do. She always kept a bag packed for missions. Sitting up, Hinata reflected on the time she had. After a few minutes, she realized that Kiba was probably busy and she shouldn't bother him any longer. He had done enough for her already. Putting her backpack over her shoulder, Hinata silently slipped out of the window.

Unsure what to do, Hinata walked around the village aimlessly. She found herself heading towards the Ramen Shop without thinking. When she saw the back of a blond head, Hinata hurried towards the shop.

"H-hi, N-naruto," she whispered as she got close. The blond ninja turned around and waved. He had so much ramen in his mouth that he couldn't talk if he wanted to. Blushing, Hinata took the seat next to him.

"So what are you doing here, Hinata?" inquired Naruto after swallowing his food in a gulp. Hinata fretted. Did he not want her there?

"N-nothing really. I have a m-mission s-soon."

"That's so cool!" exclaimed the blond ninja. "I haven't had a mission in forever! What rank is it? Where are you going? How long will you be gone? Will you-," Naruto's stream of questions was cut of as a figure in a large coat walked up.

"Leave her alone, Naruto. We have to leave." Shino looked at Hinata. "I assume you are ready and okay now?"

Hinata stood up and mumbled an answer. Walking away with Shino, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "B-bye, Naruto." Naruto did not hear her, though. His back was to her and he was chowing down on a sixth bowl of ramen with no sign of stopping. Sighing, Hinata caught up with Shino.

They walked to the meeting point in silence. There wasn't much to say, really. Shino wasn't the type to talk. Neither was Hinata, for that matter. When they saw Kiba at the gate near the forest, Hinata and Shino sped up to meet him.

"You guys ready?" Kiba asked. After a round of nods, the group of three headed off into the woods.

"What do you think we should look for?" Kiba asked the group, jumping from tree to tree.

"Footprints, weapons, any sign of life. Anything to lead us to the enemy," Shino answered.

Kiba laughed. "No sweat. This mission will be a breeze. I dare this ninja to attack us so we can put them out of their misery."

"We are not supposed to kill them, Kiba." Shino looked at him with a stern look. "You know that."

"D-don't forget t-to look for allies, t-too," Hinata added.

Shino nodded. "Good point."

"I don't care what we have to do." Kiba laughed. "I can do anything!"

Hinata stopped abruptly on a tree trunk. "Wait. D-don't move." Hinata activated her Byakugan.

Shino and Kiba stopped a tree ahead of Hinata and looked back. "What is it?" they asked.

"T-there's a f-fight."

"So? We can take them!" Kiba was always the arrogant one.

"N-no. There's way too m-many."

"Should we go around them, then?" Shino was always the practical one.

"I d-don't think s-so. It c-could be i-important. A-allies."

With that, the trio stepped into the clearing.

-Flashback End-

Blood.

That was the first thing Hinata noticed as she stepped into the clearing alongside Shino and Kiba, her teammates, and it absolutely horrified her. There wasn't supposed to be any blood. It was a simple mission: find and bring back the stolen scroll. It wasn't even an important scroll, and the thief barely got away. The thief was identified as a sand ninja, and a weak one at that. So why was there blood? Oh, so much blood!

Blood on the grass.

Blood on the trees.

Blood on the hand of so many ninja . . . .

Wait, why are there that many ninja? And what's that in their-

"Hinata, move!" Kiba screamed at Hinata.

Hinata ducked just in time to avoid a kunai flying over her head. She jumped to a tree above her as one flew at her feet. Hinata jumped from tree to tree, avoiding blows from the weapons, until finally, one hit her in the shoulder. She plummeted to the ground, off balance. In fear of being spotted out in the open and attacked, Hinata climbed into a bush for protection and a hiding spot.

Glancing over, Hinata noticed that Shino and Kiba were not having much luck, either. Kiba and Akamaru were taking on three sand ninja and steadily losing the advantage. Shino was fighting five sand ninja on his own, but had the aid of his insects. While the odds were against them, both ninja seemed to be holding their own.

One sand ninja threw needles at Akamaru, who easily dodged them, while the other two were in close combat with Kiba. Although Akamaru was okay, he was too preoccupied to aid Kiba in battle.

Kiba lunged at one sand ninja with claws, but it was easily deflected, knocking Kiba aside. The two sand ninja countered with a sand dragon jutsu, which Kiba narrowly avoided. Once again, Kiba attacked with claws, but instead of slashing at his foe, he bit one in the arm (much to Hinata's surprise). In a cloud of smoke, Kiba turned into Akamaru! Hinata realized that Kiba must have used a transformation jutsu on the dog, but what about Kiba? As she looked over, her idea was confirmed. The Akamaru fighting the single sand ninja transformed back into Kiba, who quickly overwhelmed the enemy and killed him.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled at his dog to get his attention as he threw him a food pill. Akamaru leaped into the air and swallowed the pill whole, immediately growing in size until he was Kiba's height. Sure that _this _battle was over, Hinata turned her gaze over to Shino.

One sand ninja lay dead on a branch. Shino's bugs had completely engulfed another sand ninja, who Hinata assumed was dead. Yet, why did the bugs cling to him? All of the other bugs who obeyed Shino flew over to the corpse. Shino watched them, confusion masking his face. From afar, Hinata could see the three ninja talking to Shino, but could not make out any words.

Shino tensed up at something a sand ninja said and moved into a defensive stance, preparing to fight. All three ninja sprinted towards her ally, and Shino moved backwards a step. Behind Shino, another three sand ninja prepared to throw weapons at him, but how? No new ninja had entered the clearing; Hinata could tell from her Byakugan. The three ninja Shino was talking to were shadow clones!

Hinata realized this an instant too late. She screamed out to her comrade, but the ninja had already thrown six needles towards Shino. One hit each leg and arm, another in his shoulder, and the final one close to his heart. There was absolutely nothing she could do.

Paralyzed with fear, Hinata put her hand over her mouth to stifle her cries. If she was heard, she would be killed. What use would she be to her team then? Her best bet was to recover and wait—wait until everyone had disappeared. Then, and only then, could Hinata escape safely.

Kiba jumped over to Shino and slung him over his shoulder. They exchanged a few words, painful ones on Shino's side, and then Kiba took off. The remaining sand ninja scattered. The clearing was dead silent.

Hinata used her chakra to heal the wound on her shoulder, but it was deep and used more chakra than she expected. Between healing herself and using her Byakugan, Hinata was drained of energy and chakra.

Everything happened so fast. Hinata tried to assess the events in her mind and sort out what happened. In the end, she came to one conclusion.

Kiba and Shino had left her.

Hinata was alone.

**A/N: So what did you think? I have a deal for you...if I get a more reviewers, I will write a bonus chapter in Shino's point of view! I promise I will get to the HinataxGaara soon...in a couple chapters probably. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Bonus Chapter

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I couldn't update this for a while. Do you know the big storms producing tornadoes in the US? Yeah, I've been in them, but don't worry. I'm okay. Anyway, thanks for reviewing! Here's that bonus chapter in Shino's point of view that I promised. This chapter will be in first person, unlike the rest of the story, so I hope it's okay. If you could give me feedback on how the change in pov was, that would be great. Enjoy.(:**

Hidden Away

Bonus Chapter

Shino's POV

Stay calm.

That's the first lesson my dad ever taught me. If you're in a fight, stay calm. If your in an argument, stay calm. If your upset, stay calm. No matter what happens, stay calm.

Bugs can detect nervousness like dogs. Don't believe it? When a bee is crawling on a statue, will it sting it? Of course not. The statue is still. Does a bee sting a person who is calm and still? Not without reason, such as me telling it too. If a bee is crawling on a person who is frantic and squirming, it will sting in defense. The person was not calm and as a result was a danger to the bee.

That leads into lessons two: Do not attack without reason. With great power comes great responsibility. There are many more lessons. As one can hypothesize, they all relate to bugs. That kind of idea.

After the meeting with Lady Tsunade, I could not help but observe that Hinata needs help mastering the first lesson. Upon hearing the news of her cousin, she becomes useless and faints. I wonder, why would she get so worked up over a cousin who despises every particle of her existence? Hinata vies for the attention and acknowledgment of those who will never give it too her.

Naruto. Hinata becomes nervous around him, also. Again, I wonder why. He is a knucklehead, hyper-active ninja who is rash in his decisions and is _never_ calm. Yet, Hinata is desperate for his attention.

When I saw Hinata and Naruto talking at the ramen shop, I admit, I became curious. Hinata felt bad enough to faint and be carried home by Kiba, but could obviously talk to the blond-haired ninja? Just talking to him for five minutes gives me a headache strong enough to give my bugs headaches.

Naruto was talking to Hinata in between bites. "I haven't had a mission in forever! What rank is it? Where are you going? How long will you be gone? Will you-"

"Leave her alone, Naruto. We have to leave." He was so annoying at times. How can Hinata tolerate that? She doesn't realize the favor I'm doing by pulling her away. "I'm assuming you're ready and okay?" She better be if she has time to waste here.

Hinata confirmed and we set off. I honestly felt pity towards her as she tried to bid farewell to Naruto. He left her in the dust and ignored her completely. Did he even notice her? As Hinata caught up with me, I slightly shook my head, but she didn't notice. When will Hinata stop wasting her time on people who don't care about her?

Hinata was quiet the entire walk to the gate, not that I'm complaining. She never has much to say, anyway. I don't either, for that matter, but at least when I talk it is above a whisper and _not_ stuttered. I wish she could get over her confidence issues. Honestly, I usually support her, but when I saw Kiba, I sped up to get away from Hinata. Assuming that I wanted to see Kiba sooner, Hinata sped up, too. In Shikamaru's words, Hinata is so "troublesome".

"You guys ready?" Kiba inquired. Both Hinata and I nodded, so we set off into the forest.

We jumped from tree branch to tree branch with such ease, it was intriguing to think that this technique was ever a challenge. At my side, Kiba was also running with ease. "What do you think we should look for?" he asked.

"Footprints,weapons, any sign of life. Anything to lead us to the enemy," I answered. I thought this was obvious, but I would not state that.

Kiba laughed off my words. "No sweat. This mission will be a breeze. I dare the ninja to attack us so we can put them out of their misery."

I wanted to scold Kiba. This mission is not one to be overlooked. Tsunade made that clear. Even if it is easy, we must be cautious and make sure it is done right. Being arrogant and over-confidence is the fastest way to fail. "We are not supposed to kill them, Kiba. You know that."

Hinata added that we had to look for allies, too. As if we would have forgotten about Neji being missing.

After traveling for a bit and listening to Kiba brag, Hinata stopped us and activated her Byakugan. Apparently, there were ninja in the clearing near us. Kiba suggested fighting them, but their numbers were great and they were _already_ fighting. In the end, we decided to enter the clearing anyway. There could be the sand ninja we are looking for or allies.

We entered the clearing and immediately saw red. The fighting was intense and blood was everywhere. I looked at Hinata by my side and she was frozen, obviously seeing nothing but the blood. I saw, though. I saw everything. Which, if you think about it, is ironic because Hinata is the one with the Byakugan.

There were nine sand ninja total. Three attacked Akamaru and Kiba, one attacked Hinata, and five attacked me. This fact seemed unfair to me, but because we were in the middle of a war zone, there wasn't much room to object at the time. Hinata disappeared from the battle almost immediately. I noticed that a red-haired sand nin followed her, but I thought that she was fighting a blonde ninja before. I discarded the information quickly, though, because I must have made a mistake in my observation. I didn't have much time to ponder this fact before I was barraged by many different attacks.

Each ninja sent a kunai at me, which I dodged effectively. I sent a kunai back at one ninja who grabbed it and put it in his pack. This immediately gave me an idea. The next time he threw a kunai at me, I sent it back with numerous poisonous bugs on it. As he caught the kunai, the bugs stung him in the arm. The venom instantly paralyzed him and would eventually kill him, for this poison had no antidote. Also, the poison killed very, very slowly. If the nin lived past this battle, he would be in for an excruciating month ahead of him before death. If he hadn't been trying to kill me, I would almost feel bad for him. Almost.

Instead of sneaking bugs to the next ninja, I simply ordered them to attack him straight on. To my surprise, he did not try to run. He embraced the bugs in open arms, literally. All of my bugs stuck to his skin. They were buzzing in happiness; he must have something on his skin to attract them. All of my bugs left to attach themselves to the ninja. He fell over, obviously dead, but my bugs still clung to him. Why? If they didn't return soon, he wouldn't be the only one dead. That was for sure.

"Ready to give up yet?" one sand ninja asked me.

"Of course not, I still have multiple tricks up my sleeve."

The opposing sand ninjas smiled deviously. "I'm quite sure you do, my boy, but I assure you we have the ace."

They have to be bluffing. "And that would be what?"

"We have one more ninja with us on this mission with us," they admitted. "Have you noticed the absence of your light-eyed female friend? He is watching her closely. If you attack us, he will kill her. Brutally and slowly. Our friend, if we would call him that, does not have the best temper of self-control. He is cruel and has no kindness in his heart. If we tell him to kill her, he will kill her with absolutely no remorse."

"So what if I run?" I questioned. I was bluffing now, of course. I would never leave my teammates behind intentionally, but this was the best way to acquire information.

"Then we will kill you, too," they stated blatantly. "But we will kill her in front of you, first. Even more slowly."

So where does that leave me? If I fight, Hinata is dead. If I run, Hinata and I am dead. As I was pondering this, the sand ninja spoke up. "So I bet you're wondering what to do. Understandable. Don't over think it, it's a trick question. Your only option is to stand there and take it."

I tensed up in a defensive position, prepared to fight them if I must. They just smirked. "Wrong move, indeed. You see, we always have the upper hand. If you turn around, you will find that we are shadow clones and you, my boy, are dead."

I took a step back, annoyed. "My name is Shin-," but I never got a chance to finish before six needles pierced by limbs, my shoulder, and my chest. I cringed and fell to the ground, paralyzed. Gritting my teeth, I hoped that I had not just been the fault of Hinata's murder.

I couldn't move my head. I couldn't move anything, in fact. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kiba, who had just jumped over to my spot. He grabbed me and slung me over his shoulder before the ninja could attack again.

"No . . . . Wait . . . ." I protested.

"We don't have time," Kiba spat at me.

"Hinata . . . is in . . . danger." It hurt to talk.

"We have to get you out of here now. I saw what happened and by the looks of it, those needles were dipped in poison. Do you want to die?" he retorted.

"Do you . . . want . . . Hinata to . . . die?" He didn't understand.

"I'm saving you," Kiba said. "Now we are leaving. Deal. With. It."

To my distaste, I then proceeded to pass out.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

That was the sound I awoke to and it irritated me. After a minute or to, I deducted that it was a machine and that I was in the hospital. Figures.

"So you're awake. Finally!" Kiba was looking down on me, smiling.

"I guess so." I laid back in the hospital bed for a second before responding. "How's Hinata?"

Kiba's face became grave. "About that . . . nobody has seem Hinata. She disappeared during the mission. A team has been sent to look for her, but we're not allowed to go."

That disturbed me. "Why can't we go?"

"Even though you'll live, you're still weak from the poison. And apparently, people think that I'm reckless."

This made me chuckle. "That's because you _are_ reckless."

Kiba laughed with me. We laughed for a minute, until a blonde figure bursted through the door, her face obviously in distress.

"What's wrong, Tsunade?" Kiba questioned.

"We just got word from Suna. It seems that Gaara is missing, too."

**A/N: Review please!**


	5. The Meeting

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Thanks for reviewing. This chapter is a little shorter for two reasons: One, I wanted to end with a cliffhanger! Two, this morning on the way to school, it was snowy and icy. While going over a bridge, the car spun out of control and hit the side rail. Hard. Honestly, I was scared to death that we were going to end up in the river, but the guard rail was strong enough to stop that from happening. Anyways, I wanted to update fast, and I've been sore and hurting all day, so I didn't have much energy to write. I'm happy with what I wrote though. Enjoy!(:**

Hidden Away

Chapter 3

It was dead silent in the clearing. Hinata might have laughed at the metaphor, since _people_ were dead, if the situation wasn't so serious. In actuality, she was tense, weak, and frankly, afraid. What should she do?

Kiba would tell her to get off of her butt and go look around. See if she could find anyone. On the other hand, Shino would tell her to lay low and wait. Stay safe. The two boys always had different opinions on what to do during missions. That's usually the only time they fought. Was that what they were doing when Kiba picked up Shino and left? Fighting over what to do? As much as Hinata wanted to deny it, they were probably fighting over whether or not to leave. Considering the outcome, Kiba had probably won. So did that mean that Shino, despite his injuries, wanted to stay?

The entire situation was confusing. Even though Hinata was never the strongest or most confident ninja, both Kiba and Shino always had her back and supported her. They never fought over that because they truly believed in her.

In the end, Hinata decided that it didn't matter _why_ her teammates left. It only mattered that they _did_. Hinata also decided that she should do something. She was too anxious just sitting behind the bush hiding. She had to get up and move.

Hinata stood up and silently activated her Byakugan, but she instantly became dizzy and dropped to her knees. Deciding it was a bad idea, she deactivated it. She should reserve her strength, just in case.

While Hinata circled around the edge of the clearing to check for lingering enemies, she thought about her situation. Hiding behind the bush watching the battle was similar to the Chunin exams. She, Kiba, and Shino hid behind the bush and watched the three sand ninja kill another team. It was excruciatingly scary. She thought that they would kill her.

Hinata decided that she wouldn't sit back and watch others fight anymore. She will fight too.

A small snapping noise awoke from her thoughts. She grabbed a kunai from her pack and turned around as she threw it towards the sound. She would fight. She would be strong.

The kunai never hit though; a wall of sand stopped it from making impact. Hinata could see a little patch of red over the top of the sand wall and made a small gasp. It was as if her thoughts summoned the sand ninja himself here. The very one from the Chunin exams.

"G-gaara," Hinata squealed. She jumped back to put distance between her and the sand nin and pulled out another kunai. Deciding it was worth the risk, Hinata activated her Byakugan.

"What are you doing here." He said it so low and emotionless it didn't even sound like a question.

"W-what are _y-you_ d-doing here?" she asked in return. "Besides s-stepping on s-sticks."

Gaara didn't answer. He looked at the ground and balled his hands into fists in anger. If Hinata didn't know any better, by the look on his face, she would think he was feeling sorrow. But how could someone so cruel feel sad? He was evil. That's it.

"So are you going to k-k-kill me?" The question slipped out before Hinata could stop it. She was proud of herself for not stuttering too much, but still stumbled over the word kill.

It took a moment for Gaara to answer and Hinata dreaded every second. "I don't know. Do you want me to?"

"O-of course n-not," came her instant reply.

"Then probably not. I don't have any reason to kill you."

"T-that hasn't s-stopped you b-before."

Gaara looked up. "I haven't killed you before, have I?"

It was a stupid question (but Hinata would never say that). He obviously hadn't. She was still breathing, wasn't she? "You've n-never h-had a c-chance l-like this, th-though."

"Haven't I?" Gaara took two steps towards Hinata. "Don't you remember the exams, girl?"

Hinata took one step back. "I h-have a n-name, you k-know," was all she said. Did he remember that day, too?

Gaara took two more steps towards Hinata; they were nearly a foot apart now. "Did you think I couldn't sense you?"

Hinata didn't want to say the truth. Yes, she did think that. She got out okay, didn't she? And he is a killer, a monster. If he saw her, he would kill her. Right?

Gaara took one more step forward. There noses were almost touching. "You don't even know how much I wanted to kill your team that day. That annoying dog and his owner, not to mention bug boy. They annoy me."

Hinata was afraid. As much as she tried not to show it, she was shaking. "W-why d-didn't you, then?"

"Because of you."

Hinata gasped. She looked the red-haired demon straight in the eyes. For the first time, she realized that they were blue. A light blue, but still blue.

"Don't think you're special. I would have killed you. I _wanted_ to kill you. More than you know. It's that I can't." Gaara grabbed her hands and held them in his own as the kunai Hinata was holding clattered to the grass.

"Y-you c-can't?" Hinata asked, nervously. He was holding her hands . . . . Nobody had done that before. Before she could stop herself, Hinata thought to herself that they were very warm and gentile. That was unusual.

"Have you ever noticed what happens to people who come close to me?" he questioned her.

Hinata immediately thought of Rock Lee at the Chunin exams (everything came back to that exam, didn't it?). Every time he attacked Gaara, the sand stopped him. It was horrible. Lee is still recovering, and he might not even recover fully! Unsure of how well she could answer him, Hinata simply nodded.

"Then notice where you are . . . and what you're doing."

Hinata instantly became very embarrassed and her face showed it.

"I am not trying to embarrass you, Hyuga, but-"

"Hinata," she interrupted him. "C-call me Hinata." She wasn't sure why it was so important for him to call her by her first name, but it was.

Again, if Hinata didn't know any better, she would think that Gaara almost smiled. "Fine. Hinata. I'm not trying to embarrass you, but look how close you are to me. _Look at our hands_. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has never been this close to me without the sand repelling them."

Hinata gulped. "So w-what d-does it m-mean?" she asked nervously.

"It means," he said. "That my sand, for whatever reason, does not think you are any threat. It trusts you."

Hinata had no clue what to say to that, but Gaara continued to talk. "I admit, I was curious. So I let you live."

Again, Hinata was silent and let him talk. "The sand is wrong, though. You are a threat. You hurt me." Gaara let go of one of her hands and pointed to his heart. "You hurt me right here."

"M-me?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, you. You with your innocent little heart and your kind little voice. Everything about you is so . . . so _pure_."

Hinata, still holding his hand, said, "Y-you say that l-like it's a b-bad thing."

"It is. Because everything I am is _not_ pure. You could say I'm darkness. But then why does _this_," he squeezed her hand, "feel so _right_?"

Hinata was startled. "I d-don't k-know . . . ."

"I don't know, either," he said as he let go of her hand and walked away.

Her hands felt empty once he let go, but Hinata pushed that thought from her mind immediately. She could not like Gaara. Not with everything that was going on. That reminded her.

"D-do you k-know anything a-about N-neji?" she asked him.

Gaara's entire body went stiff. Then, in an instant, he was right in front of her, his hands on her shoulders. "What do you know?" he practically screamed at her.

Hinata began to shake. "H-he's m-missing . . . and n-ninjas w-were s-sent t-to look f-for h-him . . ." she mumbled quietly.

"What was that?" Gaara screamed this time. He began to shake her by her shoulders, which did not help Hinata's emotions. But she remembered her vow from before. She would be strong. She closed her eyes so that she would not cry and composed herself. Eventually, her shaking stopped, but a single tear slid down her cheek. Upon seeing this, Gaara let go of her shoulders, but did not back away. "There you go again," he said.

` Hinata opened her eyes and looked up into Gaara's. "W-what did I d-do?" she asked.

But Gaara did not answer. He just continued to look into her eyes as she looked into his. They stood there, together, for quite a while, until a figure stepped out into the opposite side of the clearing. Gaara's back was to him and Hinata could just barely see the figure over Gaara's shoulder. As the figure began to talk, neither Hinata nor Gaara looked away from each other.

"Hey, Gaara, who's this you have brought with you?" the figure asked. So the figure couldn't see Hinata through the red-haired sand nin. Gaara turned around to see the figure, as did Hinata. From the distance, Hinata could only make out one definite detail about the figure, but it was a huge one.

The figure had very light lavender eyes with no pupil.

**A/N: Hope you liked it. Hit that little button under this note and review please! By the way, I just have really bad luck I guess. One day I have tornadoes, the next day ice and a car wreck (plus a sore back). Don't worry, as long as the Earth doesn't kill me, I will keep writing! It would help if you motivated me though and gave me advice...so review please! Bye!**


	6. The Explanation

**A/N: Hi readers across the globe! Welcome to the next installment of my story. Below, you will find words that will hook you into the web of the story. If the story was a book, you would not be able to put it down! At least, I hope so...anyway, enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. As if.**

Hidden Away

Chapter Four

"N-neji? Is that y-you?" Hinata asked hopefully with a smile plastered on her face. Looking at Gaara, she asked, "Is that r-really h-him?" But the more Hinata looked at Gaara, she realized he didn't share her enthusiasm. Her smile slowly fading, she asked him, "I-is e-everything okay?"

Gaara's eyebrows were slightly scrunched together, his nose was wrinkled, and his lips were slightly pursed. Not to mention his hands, which were in fists. "This would be so much easier if I could use my sand . . . ." Gaara turned around and shoved Hinata behind him so that she was hidden from Neji's view. He then proceeded to talk to Neji. "It's nobody, Hyuga. A spy, I suspect. I will dispose of it immediately." With that, Gaara slung Hinata over his shoulder and jumped up onto a tree branch. _It? Dispose?_

"Let me go! Put me down!" Hinata screamed at Gaara while he jumped from tree to tree heading north. She pounded on his back with her fists, but to no avail; he would not let her go. "Traitor! How could you? That was my cousin! And now what are you going to do to me? I thought you were at least decent, but I was wrong! You traitor! Traitor! MONSTER!" Hinata was in hysterics, screaming and crying and punching. She realized that she wasn't acting like herself (her kind self), but she didn't care. This _boy_ deserved it.

Gaara stopped at a large tree that was a couple miles away from the clearing. "Shut up," he said as he set Hinata down. Hinata crawled away (literally) to the spot where the branch met the tree and huddled up into a ball, sinking into her large tan hoodie. As much as she tried to hide her face, the tears cascading down her cheeks were still evident; they shone in the moonlight, which reminded Hinata. How long had it been since her teammates left?

"You're doing it again," Gaara stated bluntly.

Hinata wiped at her face with her sleeve. "D-doing _what_?"

"Hurting me. Here," he said, pointing to his breast.

Hinata chuckled softly. "I'm t-the one who is g-going t-to b-be 'disposed of', b-but _you're_ h-hurt?"

Gaara walked towards Hinata and put a hand on her shoulder. "You know I didn't mean it."

"N-no, I don't, a-actually," she said while shaking her head. "I d-don't know a-anything about y-you. I don't k-know a-anything about w-what's going o-on. So n-no, I _don't_ k-know t-that you d-didn't m-mean it."

Gaara sighed and sat Indian-style in front of Hinata, their knees touching. "Well . . . how about I fix that?"

Hinata looked up at him. She wasn't sure what to say. If she said no, he could force her anyway. So cooperating was probably her best option. Hinata nodded solemnly, but was not happy about it.

Gaara took off his gourd and set it beside him. He took a deep breath. Another deep breath. Then one more. "How about I explain what I can and if you have anymore questions after that, I'll answer them the best I can?"

Once again, Hinata nodded. What other choice did she have?

Gaara gulped and looked down. "I guess the best place to start is at the very beginning. And I mean _very_ beginning.

"You know how ninja have been going missing in the leaf village lately?" He didn't pause to let Hinata answer or ask how he knew this. "Well, the Village Hidden in the Leaves isn't the only village where people have gone missing. Teachers and skilled ninja from my village have been disappearing as well. So, I decided to investigate. I found out that all the people that disappeared were talented in one area or another, whether that be healing, fighting, defending, teaching, or anything else. One day, as my teammates were being checked after a tough mission, my healer mentioned a small group forming outside the villages. In other words, it was rogue. Aloof. Outcasted by choice.

"Again, I investigated. Long story short, this mini-village was trying to make its own town without the faults of the other ninja villages. It wanted all civilians out of the way and only strong, useful, efficient citizens within its boarders. This village recruited teachers to teach, healers to heal, ANBUs to fight, and so on.

"For a while, I tolerated this village. It caused no harm and seemed self-efficient. I even visited it from time to time, but they made me swear an oath in blood not to tell any citizen of a village the location of this new mini-village. Very recently, a day ago, in fact, I ran away from Suna and moved into this new village. I was content here. Until I realized the faults.

"The very healers from Suna who I trusted were stealing scrolls from the Leaf village. They stated that it was only to provide the basis for their society, which I understood, but could not justify. On their way back, I tried to stop them and fight them. I was succeeding, until your team interfered. I was going to kill you three on the spot, but then I saw you. I laid low and watched you hide in the bush. I killed the sand nin who was throwing kunai and needles at you. I protected you and watched you until the battle was over. Then I followed you and met you in the clearing. I guess you know the rest."

Hinata was silent, soaking everything in. "Do you know what?" Gaara asked her.

"Hm?" she responded.

"When you were mad and yelling at me, you didn't stutter. Not a single syllable." As Hinata blushed, embarrassed for her actions, Gaara gave a slight, slight smirk. "Don't worry, it was kind of cute, seeing that side of you." Of course, this only caused Hinata to blush more.

After Hinata recovered from her embarrassment, she spoke up. "O-okay, I have a q-question o-or t-two." She took a deep breath. "I k-know you c-couldn't kill m-me with sand, b-but why n-not let that o-other ninja kill me, b-back in the c-clearing? Y-you said y-you killed h-him."

Gaara nodded. "You see, you remind me of someone. An old friend. She also made me feel something in my heart. I still can't figure out if it's good or not, but it's something. I'm feeling something." He didn't add the 'for you'. He just couldn't get those last two words out. It was true, though. As much as he hated to admit it, Gaara felt something towards the little Hyuga Princess. The question was, did she return those feelings or was it unrequited? Not even Hinata herself knew the answer.

"O-okay. O-one m-more question," Hinata stated.

Gaara blinked. "Yes?"

"I-if you f-fought with the p-people from t-the m.v., a-are they g-going to a-accept you b-back?" Hinata wondered.

"M.v.?" Gaara asked. "What is that?"

"O-oh! S-s-sorry . . . i-it stands f-for m-mini v-village. I thought that w-was easier t-to say."

"Nice idea," Gaara acknowledged. "To answer your question, they might not want to take me back, but inevitably they have no choice. They can't deny me, I'm too strong. I can force them," he said with an evil grin that sent chills up Hinata's spine. "The real question is: Do we want to go there?"

"W-we?" asked Hinata.

"Yes, we. You can't go back to your village now. Not anymore. You know too much."

"I won't t-tell a-anybody!" Hinata insisted.

Gaara nodded. "I believe you. There are . . . _other_ ways for them to get the information from you. It's not save for you or the mv. You have options, though. We can go to the mv, together. You can come back with me to Suna; I can probably protect you. Or . . . no. That's frivolous."

"W-what is?"

"We could run away together."

Hinata wasn't sure how she felt about that, so she didn't answer. While Gaara wasn't as bad as she had thought, he still had a wild, feral side to him that was capable of anything. It would not be the best idea to leave with him. Sensing her hesitation, Gaara said, "You don't have to answer now. I get it. I'm used to not being cared about. My own father tried to assassinate me." Before Hinata could protest, Gaara jumped away. Calling over his shoulder, he yelled, "Sleep over it." Then he was gone.

Hinata sighed. Nothing was easy anymore. No matter what, she was stuck with Gaara What's-His-Last-Name for who knows how long. The funny thing was, the two had made a weird alliance or truce. They were not friends on any level, but had an unspoken agreement. Weird.

Hinata sat in the tree for a few moments before she realized that she was out in the open, weak, and practically defenseless. Her chakra was depleted so she couldn't fight. Since it would not restore until she slept, Hinata decided to take Gaara's advice literally: sleep on it. She would be weak whether she was awake or asleep anyway. She might as well do the more productive of the too. On the bright side, if she was asleep and was attacked, she might not feel it right away. With that final thought, Hinata drifted into slumber.

Little did Hinata know, a few meters away, Gaara was watching Hinata. He would never leave her unprotected. While he wasn't sure if he wanted her dead or not, if she was going to die, it would be at his hands or not at all. Not to worry, she would be safe for the time being. He wouldn't kill her. Yet. He was to curious towards the dark-haired girl to murder her. And she made him feel, something that hasn't happened in a long time.

_I'm sorry, Hinata_, Gaara thought as he picked up the Hyuga Princess bridal-style. _But this must be done._

With that, Gaara set off into the night.

**A/N: Tell me what you thought in a review. Please? By the way, I've decided to start commenting back to ever review, so if you review, you will receive a pm from yours truly!(: Thanks for reading!**


	7. The Village

**A/N: Hey, readers! Welcome back! Sorry for the late update. Better late than never, though, right? Here's the next chapter for you!**

Hidden Away

Chapter Five

Gaara jumped from tree to tree with the Hyuga Princess in his arms, a set destination in mind. He had been given orders to take her there, but was that truly the best decision? For one, Gaara did not like taking orders. He was used to being in control and preferred it to stay that way. Two, for some reason, the well-being of this girl mattered to him, as much as Gaara hated to admit it. She touched his heart, something he didn't realize even realize was there, let alone work and love. He wasn't sure if he could bare harm coming to her. When Hinata mumbled something, Gaara paused to listen. Was she waking up?

"Hmm," she sighed in her sleep. That's all it was, Gaara realized. A content sigh. While sighing, Hinata rested her head on Gaara's chest. One hand also rested on his chest, while the other delicately held on to his arm. Seeing her so innocent, it was hard to believe anyone could ever wish harm on her. He had a strong desire to protect her. But then why was he taking her _there_? Even he didn't know.

Finally, the destination was evident on the horizon—the mini-village (which needed a _real_ name, but that was beside the point). The mini-village contained about twenty common

houses, an academy, a healing center, a building belonging to the leader, a community center/meeting place, a couple businesses, and a few buildings Gaara couldn't identify. He could see the entire village from the entrance, which Gaara paused at. Should he enter?

He had to make a decision one way or another fast because the dark-haired girl could awaken any moment. Since he had already come this far, Gaara made the decision to proceed. He sprinted to the leader building.

Once again, he hesitated in front of the door, pondering whether to knock, walk right in, or walk away. While the latter wasn't really an option, it was nice to pretend. But he could walk away, Gaara realized. He didn't _have_ to take her to the leader. He could take her to a comrade instead. Somebody who could house them for the time being while Gaara made up his mind. Deciding upon that decision, Gaara began to turn around. That is, before the door in front of him suddenly opened.

"Ah, Gaara! Welcome back! I assume your mission was successful? Of course it was, look at her!" Gaara looked down at the sleeping female, then back up at the former-Anbu before him. He had sky blue hair that was short but shaggy with a few wisps falling across his forehead. His ocean-blue eyes shone like gems and his height was average. As far as weight went he was very skinny, but Gaara learned not to underestimate him because of that.

"Hello, Akira," Gaara said formally.

"Don't just stand there!" exclaimed Akira. "Come in! Hurry!"

With a nod of acknowledgment, Gaara followed the blue-haired man into the small building. "What are you doing here, Akira? Why aren't you on _your _mission?"

Akira stopped in his tracks. "You haven't heard? Our previous leader, Mamoru, died the night before the last. Don't worry, it was natural causes. No danger. Anyway, I was appointed as the new leader! Isn't that great?" Akira smiled from ear to ear. "Anyway, let's go into Mamor—I mean _my_ office and talk. I have a question for you. Standard protocol. And of course you must be relinquished of the girl."

Gaara nodded again. Of course he couldn't keep Hinata with him. That would be too easy. He didn't think they would hurt her yet. So, he handed Hinata over to a healer who took her away for the time being. He then proceeded to sit in a chair across from Akira's desk. Akira looked at him and raised his eyebrows. "Report?"

"Everything went well," Gaara told him. "I got in, got the girl, and got out. It was easy. I never even had to enter the village."

Akira's eyebrows shot up even higher at that comment. "How?" he asked.

"She was on a mission along with two comrades. I assume you know of the group that went to obtain a scroll from the Leaf?"

Akira nodded.

"When I had left, that group was in the midst of fighting with the girl and her comrades. In the commotion, I grabbed the girl and left. It was two against nine. I assumed our nin could easily overcome them. Besides, I had my own mission to follow through."

Akira nodded again. "I understand. You did well not to jeopardize the mission. It's mute point, anyway, because the team came back, except for a couple casualties. That was to be expected, though. Overall, both missions were a huge success!" Akira exclaimed with a thumbs-up. "You are dismissed."

Gaara rose from his seat and left with out a parting word. He followed the short path to his house. It wasn't just _his_ house, though. He shared it with two other people—one from the Leaf village and one from the Sound. It's humorous how so many different people have come to this village. All either rogues or power-hungry. People not content with their former homes.

Nobody greeted Gaara as he walked. Some people stared. Some people adverted their eyes. Yet, nobody attacked him. Everybody tolerated him. That was more than he had before at Suna, which Gaara was grateful for. While not all looks were kind, none were hateful.

He could see his housing now: a small brown place with two stories. The top floor was used for sleeping and hygiene. The bottom floor had a kitchen and common area for the three boys.

Gaara was within spitting distance of his door. He wondered if his teammates would be there.

When Gaara came face to face with the door, He opened it slowly, cautiously, without really knowing why. He only went on a mission. Nothing was different.

He entered into the house and saw a figure. Not just any figure, _the_ figure.

"Hello, Hyuga," Gaara greeted.

"Welcome back, Gaara."

OoOoOoOo

When Hinata woke up, her first thought was that she needed to stop awaking in unfamiliar places.

She was confused. Where was she? She knew one thing, it was cold. Heart wrenchingly cold. She sat up to assess her surroundings.

Wherever she was, it was pitch black. The air was damp and musky, not to mention humid. The floor felt like stone. Everything about this place seemed eerie.

Hinata stood up to walk around, but wobbled. She was very weak. How long had it been since she had eaten? Not since the night before the mission. Kiba urged her not to eat that morning so that she wouldn't puke. A lot of good that did her, now she was starving.

Deciding it wasn't worth wasting her energy, Hinata sat back down and leaned against a cold, concrete wall. What had happened?

She remembered talking with Gaara. She shivered. He was . . . intense, to say the least. Freaky. He asked her to run away, for both of their safety. She didn't answer him. After that, when he left, she slept. Then she woke up here.

Not much to go off of. The only for-sure conclusion Hinata could come to was that she was not home, nor was she with friends.

She was so weak . . . and so hungry. Hinata clutched her stomach in hunger pangs. Not to mention water, which she needed severely. How long could a person go without water? A few days? It had at least been two.

Hinata told herself to stay calm. She may be in the hands of enemy ninja. If so, showing her fear would only work against her, but she was still afraid!

The dark-haired girl closed her eyes. Maybe, after a nap, she would think clearer. Maybe, after a nap, she would be stronger. Maybe, after a nap, she would find out that this was all just a bad dream . . . .

Luck was not in her favor. After an hour or so, a tall figure walked into the room Hinata resided in. The creaking open of the door startled her awake, and she emitted a small yelp. A little light peaked through as the figure, a blue-haired male, entered the room, but quickly vanished as he slammed the door shut. Loudly.

He said not a word. Neither did Hinata. The silence was deafening. After a few minutes of silence, Hinata whispered, "W-who are you?"

In a voice as cold as the room, the figure spoke. "That is irrelevant."

Hinata gulped. "W-where am I?"

"I apologize. I can't tell you that, either." He didn't sound sorry.

Hinata was very nervous. "W-what can I k-know?

"What we decide to tell you," said the man. "Now get up."

"I c-can't," she told him.

The man's voice became meaner. "You will obey us, or make this harder on yourself. Your choice."

"N-no," she explained. "I really_ c-can't_."

"Why not?" he screamed.

"I-I'm w-weak," she stuttered, looking down, ashamed.

The man was quiet for a moment. "Stay here," he commanded. As if she had a choice.

When he returned, the door remained open behind him, letting a large amount of light in. Hinata had to advert her gaze down because of the brightness. She had become accustomed to the dark, and now the light was a shock.

As her eyes adjusted, she looked back at the man to get a closer look. He didn't look very strong, he was very skinny in fact. And his eyes . . . they were beautiful. How could something so beautiful have such a meanness in them? This man's eyes portrayed anger.

As he walked towards her, Hinata shrunk away from him. "N-no," she protested. "S-stay away!"

The man chuckled. "So you choose the hard way? You won't just come with me willingly?" he asked, grabbing her by the arm. In response, she slapped his arm away. It wasn't strong to any degree, but sent the message anyway. He dropped his hand. "Tsk tsk. You have brought this on yourself." He turned around. "Come on in, boys. Help me out."

"W-what?" she asked as two boys no older than fifteen walked through the door. They held rope. "N-no!"

Hinata protested as they proceeded to bond her arms and legs together. "Don't try to fight," the blue-haired man warned as he tied a cloth over her eyes. "And don't yell. We won't hesitate to hurt you."

Hinata realized that the ropes were infused with chakra. Even if she wanted to escape, she couldn't. Her chakra was depleted too much to break them. She stopped moving and stopped talking. As Akira picked her up, she became limp in his arms.

"Hm," he said. "She must have fainted. Peculiar."

**A/N: That's the end! This chapter was really hard to write, but I'm not sure why. Sorry I haven't updated sooner, but I have had horrible writer's block. Not to mention my busy schedule lately. I had four essays due last Friday, and two more due tomorrow! Anyway, please review and tell me what you thought. (:**


	8. The Negotiation

**A/N: Hello once again to my amazing readers and reviewers! Here is the next chapter to the story. If you have any questions, make sure to pm me or ask it in a review. Of course, you can review anyway. It would make my day! Enjoy!(:**

Hidden Away

Chapter Six

Gaara walked through the front door of his new house. "Hello, Hyuga," he greeted.

"Welcome back, Gaara," Neji Hyuga said to his roommate. "Back from your mission already?"

Gaara froze. His back was to the Hyuga, so he probably didn't notice the tension in his body, but Gaara still worried. Not worried, exactly. Gaara never worried. But he wondered . . . how much did the Hyuga know? "Yes, I am," Gaara answered. "It was . . . easier than expected."

Neji nodded and went back about his business. He was unpacking from a bag. "I just got back from a mission myself," he told Gaara. "I saw you, in fact."

Gaara cocked his head. "Yes, I remember."

"So did you deal with the spy?" Neji asked him.

Gaara was silent for a moment. "You see," he began. "It was not a spy. I had to make you that so that you would not interfere with my mission."

Neji stopped what he was doing and glared at Gaara. "You think that _I_ would be a nuisance?"

"In this situation, yes."

That comment put Neji off of the deep end, so to speak. He walked towards Gaara, fists clenched, but did not attack. He knew it wouldn't work, yet that didn't repress the urge. "You're lucky to hand that sand of yours," he observed.

"If that made you mad, I'm guessing you don't know the details of my mission," Gaara said.

"I guess I don't," Neji said, sitting down on a chair by the dinner table. After a couple moments of silence, Neji said, "I guess now is as good as any of a time to tell you. Our other roommate isn't coming back. He's on a long-term mission."

"I see," said Gaara.

It was silent in the room for a long while. Neither boy ventured to talk. Eventually, Neji asked, "So what _were_ the details of the mission?"

Gaara cleared his throat. "I would ask you not to kill me if I tell you, but I know that it is not possible. You could never kill me."

"That is beside the point," Neji said. "Just get on with it."

"Fine," Gaara said. "My mission was to receive Hinata Hyuga and bring her here, to our new village. If she would come of her own will, fine. If I had to kidnap her, fine as well. I just had to bring her here. And bring her here I did."

"What?" Neji asked, outraged. He hit his fists on the table in rage. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I was told to," Gaara stated blankly.

"But why _Hinata_ of all people?" Neji questioned. "Why would you kidnap her?"

Gaara glared at Neji. "For one, you shouldn't care. When you came to this village, it was agreed that in return for extra power, you would sever all ties with your former village, family, and friends. You can not let emotions get in the way of orders. And two, never, _ever_, threaten me again. Because I might just might bite back."

Neji calmed himself down. "Okay. I give. But why do they want her specifically?"

"You couldn't figure it out?" Gaara said. "She's from the Hyuga clan, like you. The heiress, actually," he corrected. "Our leader guessed that if he held her hostage, her father would want her back. We could get things from the Leaf Village that way. Anything. Money. Scrolls. People. They would pay anything for the Little Hyuga Princess."

"But I'm a Hyuga, too," Neji said, confused.

"But you left the village. They don't want you anymore. You are a traitor."

"The Leaf doesn't know that . . ." Neji said.

"We don't know what they know," Gaara explained. "That is another thing we can gain from the Leaf. Knowledge."

"So how is this hostage thing working out?" Neji asked.

"They are taking her to a designated point for negotiations with Hiashi. If he doesn't comply, Hinata Hyuga will die tonight."

OoOoOoO

When Hinata came to, she felt wind against her face. She felt sweaty hands holding her a little too aggressively and roped restraining her a little too tightly. Even when Gaara had betrayed her, he was never this rough, never this cruel.

Even though she was blindfolded, there was nothing over her mouth. She could still speak if she wanted to. Scream, even. But she knew that she wouldn't. She would be strong. If they were going to kill her, she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of knowing she was afraid. Of begging. Of crying. Of screaming. All of which sounded like great ideas to her, but she would never do it. She would be a different person. If Hinata Hyuga must die, she would die strong. At least her father may be proud of that. On second thought, she doubted it.

Hinata realized that they must be running. But where to? Again, she would not ask. She would not talk to these monsters.

When Hinata thought the word "monsters", she immediately remembered a time a day ago. A time when her biggest problem was a red-haired demon boy. He was a monster, too. He betrayed her.

More time had passed since Hinata woke up, but she still didn't say a word or struggle. She wondered if anybody would care if she died. Maybe her father would find it convenient. If Hinata died, Hanabi could become the heir to the clan, just like her father always wanted. It would save him the trouble of banishing her or even killing her.

Then, Hinata thought of her teammates. Would they miss her? Hinata wasn't sure. Would they miss her personally? Possibly. But Hinata was sure that they would not miss the dead-weight on the squad. They would not miss the stuttering, nor would they miss the shyness. They could live on without her. They _would_ live on without her.

What about Naruto? Sometimes, Hinata wondered if he even knew that she existed, let alone liked her. There would be no way that he would miss her if he never even knew her.

Nobody would miss Hinata. Her death would not be a great loss. It would even be convenient. This made the idea of dying easier to Hinata. She was leaving nobody behind. All of her hopes and dreams and happiness was in the future. In what she could be. If she died, there would be no _could be_s. There would be no Hinata, period.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, the man (at least, she assumed it was a man) carrying Hinata stopped. She heard footsteps to the side of him land on tree branches and assumed that the man carrying her had reinforcements.

How many people does it take to kill one little Hyuga? She wondered. That was, until she heard a voice in the distance.

"Hinata? Is that you? What is going on? I demand to know!" It was Hiashi, her father, talking. His voice did not comfort Hinata. Why couldn't he just leave and let her be killed in peace?

"Ahh, Hiashi. Welcome." The man holding her spoke to Hiashi. His voice sounded familiar . . . it was the blue-haired man from the room! She realized with a start.

"What is the meaning of this?" Hiashi asked.

"Well, as you see, we have your little daughter."

Hiashi was fuming. "For what purpose?"

The man holding her's voice suddenly became very malicious. "For . . . negotiation." He drew out the last word.

"Negotiation for what? Hinata?" Hiashi asked.

"Of course! Who else? Now, for the right price, we may be able to return her with most of the hairs on her head still intact. No promises, though. Of course, a few scrolls and hidden jutsus may increase the chance of her safety. Along with gold, of course. Lots and lots of gold." The man holding her chuckled.

"You're insane, Akira!" Hiashi exclaimed. "You think I would trade for _that_?"

The man holding her, now labeled Akira, said, "You want to pay less for your daughter? I'm afraid that cannot be arranged. We want a lot, and a lot you will give us if you want her back."

"I think you misunderstood me," Hiashi said. "When I said that I would not trade for _that_, I meant that I would not trade for _Hinata_. The village's supplies and knowledge cannot be compromised for one girl. Especially one girl with absolutely no potential whatsoever."

Hinata gasped. She knew that her father hated her, but hearing it hurt worse.

"It seems like you have upset your daughter, Hiashi,"Akira said. "But I thought the Leaf Village was prosperous? It cannot spare one scroll, one jutsu, to ensure one heirs safe return?"

Hiashi paused. "You can keep her." It was obvious that he avoided the first question.

"Sadly, we cannot keep her. If you do not want to make the trade, we will not hesitate to kill her," Akira threatened. This did not scare Hinata. She already knew that she would die. She accepted it. At least she would die strong. Die brave.

"Go ahead," Hiashi said.

When Hinata felt something cold against her cheek, she sucked in a harsh breath. "You may not want to run away just yet, Hiashi." When the cold metal cut into her skin, Hinata had to bite down on her lip to stop from crying out. She would be strong. She would not cry. As a warm liquid fell down her cheek into the corner of her mouth, Hinata had to focus hard to keep her vow.

"Are you still sure about that decision, Hiashi?"

"I am sure, Akira."

Once again, Hinata felt cool metal on her face. This time, it went across her other cheek. "It is such a waste, Hiashi, to hurt such a pretty little face . . ." Piercing deeper into her skin than the last time, the knife cut into her cheek. But Hinata still stayed strong.

"Stop," Hiashi ordered.

Hinata felt hopeful. Maybe her father regretted his decisions. Maybe he wanted her back! Could she have proven her strength to him so easily? Was that all it took?

"Yes?" Akira asked, drawing out every syllable. "Are you ready to negotiate now?"

"Of course not," Hiashi responded. "Stop toying with her. Just end the game. If this is all a ruse, I will leave."

Hinata's heart sunk. She would fight. She would prove to her dad that she was strong, here and now. Some of her chakra had replenished itself while she was sleeping. If she could emit the correct amount from the chakra points in her arms and legs, she could free herself . . . .

Hinata's thoughts were interrupted as Akira spoke. "Okay. Hinata Hyuga will die, then. Remember, Hiashi, the blood is on your hands."

Hinata knew that this time, the knife would come towards her throat. No more games. Well, Hinata would not play along with the games anymore either. In the instant before the knife came down upon her throat, she released sharp points of chakra and broke the chakra ropes, pulled off her blindfold, and used a substitution jutsu.

She was a couple tree branches in front of her captor now, who looked down at the log with the knife in it with surprise. Nobody had expected _her_, the weakest link, to fight back. Their mistake. She was right in the middle of her father and Akira. Without a glance towards her father, she jumped up to a higher level of branches and started to run away.

Once again, Hinata Hyuga was on her own, but this time she felt confident. This time, she would be stronger.

She would survive, she thought as she journeyed deeper through the unfamiliar forest. Yes, she would.

**A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter! What did you think? Let me know in a review! You know, that little button under this text? Just click it. Seriously. Click it. Pretty please? Bye, readers, until next chapter!**


	9. The Vows

**A/N: Hi readers! Here's the next installment. In this chapter, I had an idea. What if, when Sasuke woke up in the hospital after Tsunade healed him (from the first "battle" with Itachi), the first people who came to visit Sasuke were Shino and Kiba, not Sakura and Naruto? Well, read on to find out! There will be much more besides Sasuke, of course. He just plays a small part in the story. Enjoy!(:**

Hidden Away

Chapter 7

Sasuke opened his eyes and sat up. At first, he was confused as to why he was in the hospital, but then he remembered the events from . . . well, actually, he couldn't remember _when _it happened. All he remembered was that he had fought Itachi. And lost.

With remorse, Sasuke concluded that he wasn't strong enough. He was _never_ strong enough. Even _Naruto_, his knucklehead teammate, was starting to surpass him. Sasuke decided that the next time he saw the blond, he would fight him. And win.

A shadow stood outside his hospital door. It had short, spiky hair. Was it Naruto?

The door opened to reveal Kiba, his hood down, with Akamaru in his jacket. Shino was not far behind his teammate. Crossing his arms, Sasuke asked, "What do you want?"

Sasuke's voice was harsh and rude, but that didn't faze Shino nor Kiba. If it did, at least, they didn't show it. Stepping forward, Shino said, "We have a favor to ask you. It is of dire importance, and we are afraid that you are the only one who can help us."

"Because of my eyes." Sasuke said it like a fact, not a question.

"Of course," Shino said. "Neji isn't here to ask (by now the news of his being missing had spread) and we can't get Kakashi involved; he would tell too many people."

"So this is a secret mission?" Sasuke asked.

"Yup," Kiba said with a smug smile.

"Well, why can't you two ask your teammate for help? She has the Byakugan."

Kiba looked down and frowned. "That's the thing. Hinata . . . she's gone. She disappeared during our last mission. Just last night, an enemy ninja negotiated with Hiashi Hyuga for Hinata, so we have a vague location of where she is. Very vague, though."

"That's why we need your help," Shino added. "Technically, we are not allowed to be on the search team, but we have to find her. We can't trust anyone else."

Sasuke still had one more question. "Wait. So if there was a negotiation, why do we not have Hinata back?"

Kiba gulped. "Do you wanna tell him, or should I?" he asked his teammate.

"I will," Shino responded, then turned to Sasuke. "Hiashi said no. He said Hinata was weak and not worth saving. During the negotiation, Hiashi informed us that Hinata freed herself and ran, but she was injured. So, we must leave immediately to find her. This happened a couple of hours ago."

Sasuke nodded. "I'm in." It would be a good way to train, after all. _Then_ he could beat Naruto to a pulp.

"Great," Kiba said. "But remember, you can't tell anyone about this. Pack up and we will leave."

Sasuke smirked. "You're as bad as Naruto. Of course I won't tell anyone. I'm not stupid. And anyways, I'm already packed," he said, pointing to a bag in the corner. He didn't venture to explain why it was there, and neither Kiba nor Shino ventured to ask.

Once prepared, the three boys jumped out the hospital window and ran towards the forest silently.

"I will find you, Hinata . . ." Kiba vowed.

OoOoOo

"They are taking her to a designated point for negotiations with Hiashi. If he doesn't comply, Hinata Hyuga will die tonight," Gaara said.

Neji frowned. "That is a problem."

"I agree. You can never count on your father to father to save you," Gaara commented, thinking of his own father.

Neji instantly tensed. "Not necessarily. My father died to protect my clan."

"And my father tried to assassinate me," Gaara countered.

That comment made Neji pause. "Well, it's no secret that Hiashi has never been fond of Hinata."

"Then we will go to her. Just in case," Gaara said.

Again, Neji paused. "You care about her," he observed.

"I do not care about _anyone_," Gaara argued. "Except myself."

Neji raised an eyebrow at the former sand nin.

"But . . . I am protective of her."

"Just as I thought," Neji said with a smirk.

Gaara warned Neji, "Do not try me, Hyuga. Just because I tolerate you does not mean that I like you. I would not mind killing you if I did not need you at the moment."

"What do you need _me_ for?" Neji asked curiously.

"Simple," Gaara said as he opened the front door. "We need to save Hinata. Together, sadly."

Neji nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Sadly."

The two ninja, with an awkward truce, headed into the forest.

"I will save you, Hinata . . ." Gaara vowed.

OoOoOo

Akira was stunned as he held the tree stump in his hands, the knife embedded in its skin. Somehow, the girl had managed to free herself. Akira had underestimated her power, and now he had no hostage to gamble with. The girl's father had left, too.

"What should we do now?" one of Akira's men asked.

"Should we pursue the girl?" another questioned.

Akira shook his head. "Right now she is on end. In fight or flight mode. In addition, she probably has a high adrenaline and chakra rush."

"Excuse me for asking," a third man asked. "But why does that matter?"

"Yeah, we can take her!" the fourth and final one said.

Akira shook his head once more at the mens' ignorance. "We should wait until she stops. She will eventually get tired and rest. _That_, my friends, is when we will strike."

All four men nodded in approval. The plan was good. Except for one loose end . . . "You three," he said pointing to three of the men. "Should pursue the girl's father, Hiashi Hyuga. Kill him before he can make it back to the Leaf Village. Nobody must know what happened today."

"As for you," Akira said, pointing to the best and final of his men, called Kenji. "You will come with me in pursuit of the girl." It made sense to bring the strongest with him, of course. He would only take one men with him, or else they may be spotted. Two people pursing would be enough, anyway. Both Akira and his strongest ally were tough enough to take on one little ninja girl.

The three assistants to Akira sprinted in one direction, while Akira and Kenji headed off in the opposite direction. Akira had one goal, and one goal only. Revenge. Revenge on the girl who made a mockery out of him. One thing is for sure, Akira would not allow it to happen twice.

"I will kill you, Hinata . . ." Akira vowed.

OoOoOo

Hinata ran. She ran for miles. When she thought that she could not longer go on, she ran another mile. Hinata never stopped because stopping could mean the enemy catching up to her. Stopping could mean death.

Everything inside Hinata was screaming.

Her lungs were screaming for air.

Her legs were screaming for rest.

Her mind was screaming for understanding.

Her heart was screaming for compassion.

Everybody had betrayed her. Her teammates had left her. Gaara had given her away. The blue-haired man had tried to kill her. And last of all, her father would have _let_ the blue-haired man kill her. Well, she would prove them all wrong. She would not stop. Hinata Hyuga would not die just because she needed a break.

She ran on and on. She didn't focus on where she went, just that she went somewhere. It was a surprise when Hinata stumbled upon a familiar place. The clearing where it all began. She paused to look at it.

The clearing where she watched the fight.

The clearing where Shino was injured.

The clearing where her teammates left her.

The clearing where she was face-to-face with Gaara.

The clearing where Gaara betrayed her.

The clearing where everything that mattered to Hinata ended.

Yet, she couldn't help but think that something had started here, too. The beginning of her truce with Gaara, no matter how short lived it was.

Gaara. Just thinking about him made Hinata sad. She thought that he had changed. That he would change for _her_. Obviously, she was wrong. He was still the cruel boy she first met at the Chunin exams. Nothing had changed within him. He had betrayed her. Period.

Once Hinata stopped, it was almost impossible to start running again. She was exhausted, starved, and parched. She sat down next to the bush she had hid in a couple days ago. Maybe she could rest. Just shut her eyes for a couple seconds . . . it _was_ dark outside. Between the bush and the darkness, she would be hidden for a short while. Long enough to replenish her energy and chakra. Yes, sleep sounded good . . . .

OoOoOo

A snapping sound of sticks instantly woke Hinata from her slumber. She instantly jumped up, grabbing a kunai for defense. It was then that she looked up into the sky. The sun was up! Hinata had rested for too long, and now she had company. She could only hope that it was friend and not foe.

If it was a friend, maybe they could take her back to the Leaf Village. It was then that she realized she couldn't do it by herself. She was too cut up, too exhausted, and needed supplements.

Even if it was foe, Hinata would try to survive. Upon that thought, Hinata corrected herself. She wouldn't just try. She would survive.

Running was not an option. Not anymore. Her legs hurt too much from running and her skin hurt too much from the knife. She would have to stay and fight. Brave it out.

Facing the noise, Hinata wondered who was there, who's face she would see/ It was then that Hinata made a vow of her own.

"I will stay alive . . . ."

**A/N: That's the end of this chapter. I wanted to take the time to thank my reviewers. Each and every review has been great. I swear, I have the best reviewers on the site. You all write very long reviews with a bit of advice and compliments in them. They are absolutely perfect. I hope all of you readers continue to enjoy this story. Now, if you haven't already, review, please!(:**


	10. The Fights

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update. I've had this completed for a while, but my step-brother thought it would be funny to see how a laptop reacted to being dropped in a sink full of water. Needless to say, I was waiting for my new laptop to come in. Thankfully, my memory cards were okay, so I didn't have to rewrite this chapter. After a long wait, here is the next installment! Enjoy!(:**

Hidden Away

Chapter 8

Shino, Kiba, and Sasuke had made it through the village, past the gate, and into the woods without being spotted. This was the best case scenario; if somebody had seen and reported them to the Hokage, they could have been detained and kept from going on their mission. Their mission: find Hinata and bring her back.

Shino and Kiba were worried that Sasuke wasn't as dedicated to the mission. Being Hinata's teammates, they wanted to save her as soon as possible and bring her home. Sasuke, on the other hand, only viewed this mission as grounds for training. Still, at least that meant he would try. The question was, would trying be good enough? Would trying be enough to save Hinata's life?

While the trio descended into the woods, Kiba's thoughts centered around regret. He wished that he would have never left the clearing that day. Maybe he could have found Hinata, assuming she was still nearby during the fights. Maybe, if he hadn't left, Hinata would be home right now.

Then, Kiba looked to the side towards his teammate, Shino. Maybe, if Kiba had stayed a second longer, that extra second would have been too long for his teammate. Maybe, if Kiba tried to save Hinata, too, Shino would have died. Was it really worth trading one teammate for another? Kiba wasn't sure. He couldn't change the past, but he could decide his future. He would correct his mistakes. He would find Hinata.

Then, a peculiar thought popped into Kiba's mind. What if, on the off chance, Hinata didn't want to be found? It made sense. While Hinata was never the strongest, she should have lasted longer than ten seconds in the battle in the clearing. She was taken out much to soon. What if Hinata had simply . . . left?

Shaking his head, Kiba dismissed the thought. No, Hinata would never purposefully leave the team nor the Leaf Village. She was a better person than that. That was one thing about Hinata. What she lacked in strength, she made up for in kindness.

Kiba was snapped out of his thoughts when his comrade spoke up. "Hey, Sasuke," Shino said. "You might want to activate your Sharingan. See if you can spot any unusual tracks, any sign of ninja or Hinata."

"I don't need my Sharingan for that," Sasuke said as he stopped. "Listen. Don't you hear that?"

Kiba and Shino halted right behind Sasuke. They didn't say a word as they strained their ears to hear any sound. "I hear it!" Kiba exclaimed as he heard a faint noise, but his two comrades quickly shushed him. Disgruntled, Kiba complied.

The sound was faint and far away. If Sasuke hadn't brought attention to it, Kiba may not have noticed the noise. It was a faint clinking sound every now and then, like metal hitting metal, and screams of people fighting. They were quiet though, which Kiba thought meant that they were far away.

"It's a fight," Shino speculated.

"Why does this always happen?" Kiba wondered out loud, but hushed up as Sasuke gave him an evil glare.

"We should go check it out," Sasuke ordered.

Kiba laughed. "Because that worked out _so_ well last time, right, Shino?"

It was Shino's turn to glare at Kiba. "We are Shinobi. We will enter battle whenever needed to protect the ones we love and strangers. If you are not prepared to do so, you may head back to the village."

"Of course not!" Kiba exclaimed. "I'm always up for a fight," he added with a smile. Akamaru, resting in his jacket, confirmed this with a bark.

Sasuke smirked. "You had better be because it looks like a fight is exactly what we are going to get." With that, Sasuke continued to run towards the fight. Shortly behind him were Kiba and Shino.

It took no time at all to reach the fight. There were four figures attacking in a dead-lock. It was obviously one versus four, the one steadily losing the advantage. And who could blame them? It wasn't exactly a fair fight.

As the trio got closer, they could see the faces of the four men fighting.

"Hiashi," Shino realized with a start. He was fighting three opponents at once.

Sasuke looked at Kiba and Shino. "So what do you guys want to do? After all, this is the man who left Hinata to die."

"What are you suggesting?" Shino asked in shock. "That we leave him to die, too?"

Sasuke shrugged in response.

Shino shook his head in disapproval. "No, we will join the fight and help Hiashi."

Kiba agreed with Shino. "If after we make it home, Tsunade wants to deal with him, great, but we can't make that decision. We _will _fight." Kiba frowned. "Sorry, Hinata. Getting to you may take a little longer than planned."

OoOoOo

Akira and Kenji plunged deeper and deeper into the forest, pursuing the girl. It was easy to track her; she was careless and left footprints and scuff marks everywhere she went. It was child's play following them. Akira almost felt sympathy for the girl. After everything she had went through, she was still clinging to every last chance, to the very end of her rope. Well, Akira had news for her. Her grasp on the rope was going to end and it was going to end _now_.

"What do we do now?" Kenji asked his master. "The footprints have ended."

Sure enough, the girl's tracks had ceased to exist. That meant either one of two things. One, she was right here, nearby, and was hiding. Or possibly, two, she had become aware that she was being followed and hid her tracks. Akira didn't think that the girl was smart enough to cover her footprints, though. Even if she was, he doubted that she would have the energy nor the time to cover them effectively. That meant she must be nearby. 

Akira told Kenji what he had just figured out. "Split up. If you find her, let me know. If you do not find her soon, come and find me." With that, Akira left the brown-eyed, dirty blonde assistant behind.

Akira thought that he needed a way to find a girl besides just searching blindly. Deciding that now was just a good time as any, Akira began to use the new hidden-jutsu that he had learned from a stolen scroll.

"Chakra Visibility Jutsu!" he said as his hands flew through several complicated hand signs. Then, all of his surroundings went gray. "It worked," he mumbled with a smirk. If he saw anyone's chakra, it would look blue, as would the person wielding it. Looking at his own hand, Akira concluded that another aspect of the jutsu. If he saw his _own_ chakra, it would look black. The rope that bound the girl previously was infused with his own chakra, which should still linger on the girl. That meant that all he had to do was look for any black chakra spots.

Akira stepped into a nearby clearing. He looked around for a few seconds and smiled as he saw a figure surrounded by blue . . . with a faint amount of black.

"Found you."

OoOoOo

Hinata was resting by the bush when the figure startled her. She knew that he was there, but she hoped that it would be a friend, not foe. Guess luck wasn't on her side today.

On the bright side, while Hinata rested, she was able to replenish a good amount of chakra. The cuts were still there (for some reason, they would not heal) though. But maybe, just maybe, she could fight.

"Found you," the figure said. Akira.

When Hinata looked up at him, she smirked. It wasn't an "I'm happy" smirk, it was a "I know something you don't know" smirk. Hopefully, that would put Akira on his toes. Make him think Hinata had some secret up her sleeve. Which, of course, she didn't.

When Hinata stopped smirking and glared at him straight in the eye, he cocked his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows. "Aren't you going to run?" he asked, genuinely confused.

Hinata didn't answer. She didn't want to run. Fighting would be hard. She hurt immensely from the cuts, but she knew that running would hurt her even more in the long run since Akira was much faster than her and would easily catch her. Instead of fleeing, her hands formed a sign as she whispered, "Byakugan." Instantly, the veins around her eyes became visible. Her three-hundred sixty degrees of vision was now _on_. She leaned forward, one hand pointed towards the ground, the other forward, palm up. Her knees and legs formed a fighting stance.

"So you want to fight," Akira observed. "Interesting."

Hinata didn't say anything. She didn't want to make herself appear weak by stuttering an answer.

"Well, let us begin." With that final thought, Akira disappeared into thin air, a cloud evident where he previously was. Hinata moved her head left and right, shifting her blind spot so she could see everywhere.

Akira was nowhere in sight. In sight . . . that made Hinata think. She looked down at the ground and realized not a second too soon that Akira was right underneath her feet. She jumped up in the air, narrowly avoiding a chakra-enhanced punch. A good thing, too. That would have hurt.

Akira charged forward at Hinata, his fist infused with chakra once again. Using the same technique Neji used on her in the Chunin exams, Hinata grabbed his arm and hit a chakra point, then another chakra point, and one more chakra point before he was able to leap away. It wasn't like Hinata's grip was very tight.

Akira gripped his arm with one hand and scowled. "It doesn't matter. I could beat you with just my foot if I had to."

Before Akira could continue talking or charge once more, Hinata charged forward herself. She jumped into the air over-top of him. As he threw a kunai at her, she performed a substitution jutsu, appearing on the other side of him. He saw this coming though and sent a kick towards her stomach. Hinata parried the blow with her arm and jumped on top of his leg, pushing off of it to get any extra power she could. Using the extra power, she kicked Akira in the head. Hard.

As he went flying in the other direction, Hinata leaped after him. "Eight trigrams; sixty-four palms!" she yelled loudly. She then proceeded to hit all of his chakra points, eventually backing off as he hit a tree and slumped down. Hinata smiled. She did it.

In a flash of clouds, Akira was gone. "A s-shadow c-clone!" she exclaimed. He had just let her think that she was winning. He let her think she could beat him. Hinata had used up a lot of chakra trying to take Akira out, when it wasn't even the real him. When she felt cold metal against her neck, she knew she had been outsmarted. Akira was standing behind her, holding a kunai to her neck.

"Game over," he said.

Hinata closed her eyes, waiting for the final blow that never came. When she no longer felt cold metal against her neck, she turned around to see Akira on the ground and a few flakes of sand floating in the air.

**A/N: That's it for this chapter! I have a small question for all you readers (it will benefit you, don't worry). Are the length of my chapters okay, or would you rather them be longer? Answer along with your review if you don't mind; it's easier to have everything in the review section than have them in multiple PMs. That way, it's all in one place. Make sure to tell me what you thought and review!**


	11. The Doubts

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry again for the really late update. I seem to be doing that a lot more lately. I've been really busy, but I guess you've heard that before, huh? Anyway, I'm home sick from school today, so I decided while I was laying around in bed that I would get out my laptop and finish up this chapter for you guys. It's double as long as the others, so I hope that makes up for the late reviews. Enjoy!(:**

Hidden Away

Chapter Nine

"We must hurry!" Neji said as he and Gaara traveled, Neji leading. "There is no time to waste."

Gaara closed his eyes in frustration. "It's fine."

Neji resisted the urge to turn on his so called "ally". He found it difficult to deal with the sand ninja and sometimes wondered if it would be better to have him as an enemy rather than a comrade. That would be silly, of course. If Gaara was his enemy, Neji would be crushed, literally, in a matter of seconds. Still, the idea was tempting and he had his reasons to not fully trust Gaara. After all, Neji wasn't sure if he was telling the whole truth.

Neji doubted Gaara's true intentions in coming to the village. While the former sand nin brushed off the question, stating it was simply a vie for more power and acceptance, Neji did not buy it. Gaara wasn't exactly the type of person who became upset over others' opinions of him . . . but he could always kill a person when they spoke ill of him, so it was a mute point. Nobody ever lived long enough to insult Gaara twice.

Then again, what room did Neji have to judge? He was just as bad as Gaara. Neji left the Village Hidden in the Leaves for power. Yet, he felt no regret. As a branch member, Neji was practically a slave to the main branch of the Hyuga clan. Was it any surprise that he defected? A life of servitude and living on your toes was just as bad as no life at all. Besides, the village offered him the one thing he couldn't refuse if he joined . . . Neji shook his head. He wouldn't think about _that._ It was irrelevant now. He would never mention it. The only thing that mattered was that he _was_ there, not _how_ he got there. That only put him back at square one: disgruntled by Gaara, yet forcibly tolerating him.

"It is _not_ fine. It is of vital importance that we reach Hinata as soon as possible," Neji explained as he quickened the pace at which he jumped from tree branch to tree branch.

Gaara's voice was especially monotone when he said, "You don't understand."

"Understand . . . what, exactly?" Neji said, perplexed. Where was Gaara going with this?  
>"You don't understand what it is like . . . to be an outcast." Gaara looked down. "You will never understand what it is like for everyone to truly despise your every being. To be looked down on, constantly ridiculed, wanted gone, even dead. And the only reason," he paused. "Is that you are <em>alive<em> and _breathing_." Gaara glared at Neji, his blue eyes ice cold. "No . . . you will never understand."

Neji contemplated what to say. He must word this right, or else be in danger of angering his comrade even more. "I guess I don't understand," he said. "So explain it to me. What does that have to do with Hinata?"

"Hinata and I are alike on a level you can never even begin to understand," Gaara said. "She, too, is shunned and outcasted by her peers, but for a different reason than I. Hinata is looked down upon because she is viewed as _weak_." He spat the word as if it was poison.

Neji still was not sure what Gaara meant. "So?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Gaara said. "I am dubbed as a monster because everyone has pushed me to that extreme. Do you think I was always like this? That I was born a so-called _monster_?" Gaara gave Neji no time to answer before he began talking again. "I wanted friends. I wanted to be normal, despite the demon inside of me, but nobody would let that happen. They assumed that I would be a monster, like the demon inside me, and mistreated me, exiling me. Because of this, I became the monster they feared I already was."

Gaara paused for a moment in contemplation. "Hinata is similar in that aspect, by what I have observed. She didn't excel as quickly as you or even her younger sister did at a young age, so her father told her she was weak and destroyed her confidence. Because her confidence was ravaged, she was never sure of herself or her skills. She was portrayed as a weakling to everyone. But is she?"

Neji didn't respond. His previous actions and words portrayed his answer already, as much as that dismayed him.

Gaara's voice lowered to a whisper, though was still monotone. "I'm not a monster. Not really."

Neji, broken from his silence, admitted, "I'm not sure if I believe you, but it doesn't matter if I do. Not really," he said, mimicking Gaara. "Just prove me wrong."

Gaara looked at Neji in the eye, and after a moment, nodded.

"I wonder if Hinata can, too . . ." Neji wondered out loud.

Neither boy lingered on the subject any longer. They spent the rest of the journey in silence. It was then that Neji had a thought. The village had offered Neji _something_ to join, could the same be true for Gaara?

After many long moments, Gaara stopped Neji. "Admit it," Gaara ordered.

"Admit what?" Neji asked. He honestly had no clue what Gaara was talking about. He couldn't be thinking the same thing that Neji was . . . could he?

Gaara glared. "Admit that you don't know where we are going. Admit that, even with that Byakugan of yours, you have absolutely no clue where to go. _Admit_ that you aren't sure where Hinata is."

"What of it if I don't?" Neji asked, slightly relieved for a change of topic. "As if _you_ know where to go."

"I do, actually."

Neji, containing a gasp, questioned, "And you didn't say so sooner? Where to?"

"Just follow me," came the command.

And follow Neji did. Within five minutes, the two boys came across a clearing, familiar to both of them by now. There were two figures in a lethal battle, one performing one of Neji's techniques. But wait. How was this figure using a Hyuga technique?

"Hinata . . ." murmured Gaara in awe as she sent Akira flying back into a tree.

"How?" was all Neji could say. How could her skills evolve so quickly? How could she perform so accurately?

As it turned out, while Hinata had improved, she did not have enough chakra left to win. When Akira was poised and ready for the final blow with a kunai, Neji was prepared to interfere. That was, before Gaara interfered first.

He sent gallons of sand towards Akira, throwing him backwards. A couple clumps of sand hit Hinata and drifted around her,_ even grazing her skin_. It was one of Gaara's minor attacks, but still a strong one. At the very least, Akira should be shaken up. But why wasn't he?

When Akira sat up, he was laughing. _Laughing_. "What's so funny?" Neji asked, running towards the blue-haired man with a shuriken from his pack. "What is so funny?" he repeated, raising his voice.

"It doesn't matter if you kill me," Akira said with a chuckle. "We have already gotten what we want. From _all_ of you. And anyway, I sent my final and strongest man, Kenji, towards the girl's father. I don't care how strong her father is, I doubt he can take on four Jounin at once." As much as Neji hated to admit it, he was right.

"Gaara," Neji snapped. "You go find Hiashi. See what you can do. I will stay with Hinata and deal with _him_."

Gaara nodded, floating off on a small amount of sand, much faster than he ever could have if he was on foot. He understood that there was no time to argue. Funny, Gaara understood a lot more these days.

"Go ahead and rest up, Hinata," Neji told his cousin. "You did well. I will handle it from here."

OoOoOo

Sasuke thought that the entire situation was a waste of time.

The point of this mission that Shino and Kiba dragged him along to was to save Hinata, wasn't it? Then why were they stopping to help the man who left her for dead? Sasuke didn't care if Hiashi was the Hokage himself. It wasn't their priority or responsibility to save him. He was a grown man, and frankly, Sasuke didn't think he deserved their help anyway.

So why was he in this situation? Going into a fight he wasn't dedicated to? He should be saving his energy and chakra for all the possible battles to come, not waste it on this little side-mission. When it comes down to it, the pros just didn't out-weight the cons. But Sasuke guessed that it didn't matter to Shino and Kiba. They were all for this little excursion.

The imbeciles.

They don't understand that when you have a cause, you devote yourself to _that one cause_. You can't make little exceptions that make you stray away from that cause because you will be lucky to accomplish the cause anyway, let alone with all the extra things you add to it. It's just not logical. Period.

That concept made Sasuke question himself. He had his own cause to work towards, so why was he here?

Itachi.

The face of his older brother burned in his mind. But, no, he couldn't think of that. In the end, _how_s and _why_s don't really matter, just the results. And the result of this was training. Training he needed to beat those stronger than him, such as Naruto, as of resent, and to _become_ strong himself. Because if he couldn't even surpass that knuckle-head, how was he ever going to defeat Itachi?

"Are we sure about this?" Sasuke asked before they went into the clearing.

"As sure as we'll ever be," Kiba responded.

"Don't be fooled," Shino said. "We don't want this, either. It's just . . ." he droned off, unable to find the right word.

"Necessary," Kiba chimed it.

Sasuke nodded, although he still didn't really understand _why_ they wanted this. Remembering what he thought earlier, it didn't really matter why. They just did.

"We need a plan, first of all," Shino said. "We can't just run in there and fight. These ninja are obviously not Genin like Tsunade thought, especially if they are giving Hiashi a tough fight."

But before the trio could deviate a plan, Kiba ran out of their cover, Akamaru trailing behind him.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke yelled through clenched teeth.

"Fighting!" Kiba responded over his shoulder.

Shino shrugged at Sasuke, giving a "Well, what can you do?" look, and followed behind Kiba. He was obviously used to his teammates rash behavior, even if he didn't agree with it. Deciding he couldn't stay behind, Sasuke went towards the battle, too.

"Hey, Hiashi, what's up?" Kiba asked jokingly.

Hiashi didn't even look at Kiba before ordering him around. "Are you here to make jokes or help?" he asked while avoiding a kunai sent for his heart. "Pick a man and fight!"

Hiashi fought the man who was the obvious leader. He was the tallest by far, had brown hair and brown eyes. Plain in features, but once you saw him fight, you saw that he was anything but plain.

Shino, Kiba, and Sasuke each took on a ninja themselves. _Now_ it was a fair fight.

OoOoOo

Hiashi and his brown-haired opponent, Kenji, had stopped fighting. They were a couple meters away, glaring at each other from opposite tree branches. Neither wanted to make the first move. After the boys had taken on a ninja each, Kenji had no one to aid him in battle, which obviously threw off his strategy. Hiashi noticed his eyes fleeting around, looking for something to help him out, to put the battle in his favor.

Hiashi had his Byakugan activated and was also looking for something, though it was not a strategy like his opponent. He was looking for his daughter. He hoped that he would be able to see her, but she was obviously too far away, even for the Byakugan. While Hiashi stood by his decision to not negotiate, that didn't mean he necessarily agreed with it.

According to ninja conduct, he couldn't compromise the village for one citizen. It wouldn't be in favor of the village. But on the other hand, wasn't he never to let a fellow ninja down? He doubted the Village's rules. It wasn't right to leave Hinata there and he knew it, but it had to be done. If something happened to Hinata because of this . . . Hiashi didn't know what he would do.

Then again, it would be very, very convenient. Hanabi could become the new heiress, which would be the best interest for the clan. In addition, Hinata could die proud. She could be presented as a hero, a Shinobi who gave up everything to keep the village safe. It would probably be the only chance that she had to not be thought of as weak.

Kenji, his opponent, had obviously observed Hiashi's distraction. This was just the opening he needed to fight, to win. Kenji decided to use the shadow clone technique that was taught to the entire village from the stolen scrolls. While a clone of himself stood where Kenji previously stood, the real Kenji moved behind Hiashi to set up for a sneak-attack.

Even though Hiashi's mind was diverted, his eyesight was not. His Byakugan noticed the clone and the real Kenji changing places, but he played along. When the real Kenji came out, Hiashi could take him down.

Hiashi could end this.

OoOoOo

Shino was ready to fight.

His opponent was a tall sandy-haired blonde with bright blue eyes. He wore a crisp black tee-shirt and dark gray shorts without a speck of dirt anywhere on him. Overall, he reminded Shino of a girl from the Leaf Village—Sakura Haruno.

His appearance was not similar to the fan girl in any shape or form. He didn't have pink hair, green eyes, or wear a red dress. It was the _way_ he presented himself that reminded him of Sakura. His appearance was very well-kept, like Sakura, and his hair _very_ fixed. Like Sakura, he seemed like the kind of person who spent too much time on looks and not enough on actual training.

This was just an observation, of course. While it may be true, you can never be sure. Underestimating an opponent can be the first step to dying at their hands.

It wasn't underestimating if you knew you were going to win, though. And Shino would definably win.

"You can still surrender now, you know. Why would you? Because I can easily beat you," Shino told his opponent. "Save yourself the pain."

The sandy-haired nin shook his head. "Cocky, huh? I'm gonna knock that out of you real quick,"he taunted.

"I warned you," Shino said as he held his arms forward. Hundreds of bugs flew out of his arms and sleeves, making a wall in front of Shino. Shino made a clone out of some of the bugs, but his opponent could not see this through the wall of bugs. The real Shino hid above in the trees, waiting for a moment to strike.

The remaining bugs flew towards the opposing nin with a high speed, but didn't aim for anything in particular. Shino didn't want to give away his full abilities immediately, in case his opponent had something up his sleeve, too.

The bugs hit the sandy-haired nin and knocked him backwards upon impact, but the nin did a back-flip, still managing to remain on his feet. The bugs dispersed, leaving the nin staring at the Clone Shino, which was not moving much. Instead, the clone moved into a defensive stance and taunted the enemy towards him with a taunt of his hands.

The enemy ran towards him, something collecting on his fist. Shino wasn't worried about this, though. If anything hit the clone, the bugs could regenerate themselves. When the enemy nin ran towards the Clone Shino, he did not try to move. The fist, a strong red color, hit the clone directly in the stomach. To Shino's surprise, there was a hole where his fist used to be and a couple bugs dropping to the ground.

Shino realized with a start that his opponent was using fire, one of the only things that could _kill_ the bugs. Shino still wasn't worried as he silently jumped behind his opponent. He had a new strategy planned out and was five steps ahead of his opponent.

Shino would fight fire with fire.

OoOoOo

To say Kiba was excited was an understatement.

Ever since his previous fight in the same clearing, Kiba was ready to go. Even Akamaru felt the same way. They were fired up and _wanted_ to fight, to take down the men who were responsible for their teammates disappearance. If Kiba and Akamaru couldn't get Hinata back just yet, they would take out a few enemies in the process until they could.

The idea was logical enough to Kiba, anyway. Who needed a plan to go into a clearing and fight a couple renegade ninja? Shino didn't know what he was talking about. So, Kiba and Akamaru went straight into the clearing without a battle strategy. For some reason, that seemed to make Sasuke and Shino mad. Weird.

Kiba smiled at his opponent in anticipation and cracked his knuckles. His opponent looked like a pushover: a couple inches shorter than Kiba, black hair, dark blue eyes, and a constant frown on his face. If you didn't count the eyes, he reminded Kiba of a certain stoic someone.

That would make it all the more enjoyable to beat him to a pulp. If Kiba couldn't beat the real Sasuke, his almost-look-a-like would have to do.

"Why are you smiling?" his opponent asked Kiba. It was a question often asked to Kiba during battle, so often he got tired of answering it and just kept smiling. It put his opponent on their toes, to say the least.

"I'm gonna wipe that grin right off of your face!" he screamed as he ran towards Kiba, fist clenched. Because of his anger, the punch was not accurate and Kiba easily dodged it. Kiba jumped in the air and pushed off of a tree branch, putting distance between him and his opponent. Akamaru scurried under the opponents legs, tripping him up, and ran to Kiba. He stood by his master, his comrade, and growled at the opponent while in a crouch.

When Akamaru, still crouching, barked at Kiba, he realized what his dog was trying to tell him. "Do you really wanna try that out?" he asked. Akamaru barked in response. "Well, okay." Kiba looked at his opponent and smiled once more. "You should feel honored. You will be the first person to witness my new jutsu."

His opponent was running towards Kiba and Akamaru from across the clearing. "You know what to do, Akamaru!" Kiba told his partner. Akamaru barked and jumped above both Kiba and his opponent, preparing for his next move.

Akamaru then began to spin, marking his territory on trees, the ground, and most importantly, the opponent. "What in the world are you doing? You stupid mutt!" his opponent yelled. "What was that supposed to do?" he asked.

Kiba smirked. "Dynamic marking," he told his opponent. Akamaru landed beside Kiba.

"You ready, Akamaru?" he asked. Akamaru barked and jumped on Kiba's head. Making a hand sign, Kiba exclaimed, "Inuzuka Style: Man Beast Transformation Combo!" A cloud of smoke appeared, filling the area of the clearing where the three fought. "Two-Headed Wolf!" After the smoke disappeared, the figure of a large white beast was evident.

The opponent glared at wolf, not scared in the least. Pulling out a kunai, he said, "Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

The wolf growled. Kiba and Akamaru were ready to take down the pip-squeak.

OoOoOo

While Sasuke did not agree with the fighting in general, he had to admit that he was not entirely opposed to it.

After all, it was a chance to get stronger. Sasuke was glad to finally have someone he could fight to the full extent, rather than just as a training partner. Here, he could harm, even kill, as opposed to when he spared with Naruto. Apparently, it was frowned upon to hurt a teammate too bad, even if it was a training-match. Wasn't Kakashi the one who told the squad on their first day to always fight with the intention to kill?

Oh, well. Better late than never.

Sasuke didn't care much to size up his opponent. He was just another person to fight, another obstacle on his way to fighting Itachi, in the end. Who cared if he knew exactly how his opponent looked like? In the end, all opponents looked the same to Sasuke—bloody and bruised. If all went well, anyway.

Sasuke contemplated on how to take down his most recent victim.

Sharingan? No, not unless it was necessary. He didn't want to accidentally trigger his curse mark, after all. Not in front of these people.

Chidori? Possibly, but only in the end as a finishing move. The move used up a lot of chakra and he could only use it in the end when he was sure he had enough in his reserve. Using too much chakra could just activate the curse mark.

In the end, Sasuke decided that his opponent looked mediocre and hand-to-hand combat with a few jutsus mixed in would be more than enough. Sasuke was strong enough to take him on without Sharingan or Chidori, anyway.

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and looked up at his opponent. Let him make the first move. That way, Sasuke could analyze his moves and plan his own accordingly.

When his opponent ran towards Sasuke with such lightning speed that it looked as if he completely disappeared, Sasuke was surprised, to say the least. He looked left, then right, then left again. Where had he gone?

When he felt a tap on his back, Sasuke grabbed a kunai and turned his head halfway around out of reflex, only to receive a punch to the side of the head. So his opponent had a sense of humor. Sasuke respected that, in a way, but decided it was to pesky to play around with. No games. He would end this as soon as he could.

Deciding the risk was worth it, Sasuke activated his Sharingan. As long as he was careful with how much chakra he expended, he would be fine.

Observing the battle field with new eyes, Sasuke found his opponent and could easily follow his movements. Taking aim, Sasuke yelled, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Child's play. Sasuke only hoped taking down Itachi would be so simple.

Nah, he doubted it.

**A/N: That's it for this chapter! As always, please review and tell me what you thought! Anything is welcome as long as it's not a flame! Bye!(:**


	12. The Realization

**A/N: I'm back! Here's the next chapter. I have to admit, I've been done with this chapter for a couple days, but I've been editing it to make sure it's as good as I can make it. Enjoy!(:**

Hidden Away

Chapter Ten

Shizune paced outside Lady Tsunade's office. How was she to deliver such grave news? So much had happened in the village in the past week. Could Tsunade handle the information? On the other hand, could Shizune handle the consequences?

Lady Tsunade was strong, to the say the least, and had a fiery temperament to match. Upon hearing such news, Shizune wasn't sure that Tsunade wouldn't stoop so low as to blame the messenger. So what should she do?

"Agh! So many questions . . . . When will we finally get an answer or two?" Shizune ranted out loud. Putting her head in her hands, Shizune wondered what she would do.

"Get an answer to what?"

Shizune's head snapped up instantly. "Lady Tsunade!" she greeted. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were there," she apologized.

Lady Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her assistant. "So you didn't know that I, the Fifth Hokage, would be outside the Hokage's office?"

Shizune put her hand behind her head and chuckled nervously. "Well . . . ."

"Shizune!" Tsunade snapped impatiently. "Out with it already. What is going on?"

Shizune saw that there was no getting out of this one. Well, the two might as well discuss it behind closed doors. Wouldn't want anyone else hearing this news. "May we talk about it in your office, Lady Tsunade?" she asked, putting an effort in to sound pleasant. As an after-thought, Shizune wondered why they should bother going out of ear shot when everyone seemed to find out what was going on anyway. Oh, well. Nothing she could do now except tell Tsunade.

Lady Tsunade nodded and led them into the room. She sat behind her desk, while Tsunade stood in front of it, too antsy to sit down. Neither lady said a word while Tsunade poured herself a drink. After taking a long gulp and setting it down on her desk, she gazed at Shizune imposingly. Her very eyes seemed to ask, "Are you going to say something or not?" Like Shizune had a choice in the matter.

"You know how there have been many missing nin lately . . . ?" she started off. After a simple nod from Tsunade, Shizune continued. "Well, it appears we have a couple more, though I guess they _technically_ aren't missing, since we know where they are."

This got Tsunade's attention. Her gaze drifted from her drink, which she had gone back to gulping as Shizune talked, to the black-haired lady herself. She slammed the drink on the table and sighed. "Now, who would that be?"

Shizune gulped and talked to the floor. "Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Sasuke Uchiha," she muttered softly.

Tsunade slapped her hand down on the table, causing multiple papers to fly into the air and off onto the floor. "I can't have heard you right, Shizune. Tell me once again, who has gone missing this time?"

This time, Shizune looked Lady Tsunade straight in the eyes. "I said, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Sasuke Uchiha," she spoke loud and clear.

"You don't think . . . ," Tsunade drifted off in mid-thought.

" . . . that they went for Hinata Hyuga," Shizune finished.

"All of these stupid Genin," Tsunade said. "Getting lost and playing hero. Don't they realize that this isn't a game? When one pawn goes out alone, you don't send another pawn after it. You send a better piece, like a rook, a bishop, even a knight, but never another pawn! Because what else can that pawn do besides be sacrificed along with another?"

"But if a pawn can make it all the way to the other side, they can become a rook, a bishop, a knight, or even a queen!" Shizune retorted.

"Don't tell me you agree with this," Tsunade asked disapprovingly.

"Of course not," Shizune said, doing damage control. "It's just that these pawns seem to be doing better in the recovery mission than the knights."

Tsunade's countenance was confused. "Come again?"

"You didn't let me finish earlier," Shizune told her. "That search team you sent out to find Hinata Hyuga, the one with her father and others, ran into trouble. The entire group was taken down, only Hiashi Hyuga and another were spared. Hiashi Hyuga stayed behind for negotiations, but his partner retreated back to the Hidden Lead Village." Shizune paused, unwilling to relinquish the rest of the story.

"Well?" Tsunade prompted. "What negotiations?"

Shizune took in a breath. There was much to tell the Hokage. "It seems that a new village has formed, one with only people skilled in one or more field, such as fighting, teaching, or healing. That is where some of our ninja have gone—to that village."

"So they defected?"

"In a way," Shizune explained. "They were each very skilled, and in return for betraying their village, they were each offered one thing they personally could not refuse. It varied from person to person, but it has seemed to always convince the person to defect.

"The team found this out while spying on the village itself. The team had followed Hinata Hyuga into the village, allegedly kidnapped by Gaara of Suna, but as I already told you, most of the team did not make it out."

"What happened in the negotiations?" Tsunade inquired once more, returning to what Shizune said earlier.

"Hiashi Hyuga declined. In return for the Hyuga heiress, they wanted scrolls and secret jutsus. The city has already stolen the scroll containing forbidden jutsus such as the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and they are using it, too."

Tsunade shook her head in disapproval. He didn't even try to fight for Hinata? She understood not bargaining, but not _trying_? For his own _daughter_? "What else?"

"We sent the other surviving nin back to act as a spy. He has relayed us much valuable information. For one, Hinata Hyuga had escaped from her captors by herself. She began to fight a man who called himself Akira Kato, and came close to winning before she was untimely defeated. Gaara of Suna and Neji Hyuga from Konoha, both who defected to the new village, came to her aid.

"In addition, after the negotiations failed, a battle broke out between Hiashi Hyuga and the group who previously held Hinata Hyuga hostage. They were also from the new village. And get this, Shino Aburame, Sasuke Uchiha, and Kiba Inuzuka came to his aid, even after witnessing the negotiation. We have no status on the condition of either current battle and haven't heard from our spy in over an hour. We fear the worst and hope for the best." Shizune took a deep breath and thought for a while. Was there anything she was forgetting?

Tsunade's eyes lit up, stars seemingly sparkling in them. Shizune hadn't seen a spark like that in Tsunade in years. "What was the man's name who held Hinata Hyuga? The one who came into contact with Gaara and Neji Hyuga?"

"Akira Kato, I believe."

"And was there a description of him available?"

Shizune racked her brain. "Yes, I think so. Actually, I know so. Short, light blue hair. Bangs falling across his forehead. Also, dark, ocean blue eyes."

Tsunade stood up, her hands shaking. Shizune traveled around the desk to take her hand and calm down the Hokage. Usually, when she shook like that, she was angry, ready to punch something. But when Tsunade looked up at her assistant, a tear was evident gliding down the Hokage's cheek. Tsunade's face even held a _smile_.

"Are you sure about that, Shizune?"

"Yes, but-,"

"No buts. Are you absolutely sure?"

Shizune nodded. "Positive."

Tsunade's smile got even bigger. "Then follow me. I will explain on the way, Shizune."

Shizune followed orders, but wondered how Lady Tsunade could smile after the news delivered to her.

Maybe the messenger _wouldn't_ get killed, after all.

OoOoOo

While Tsunade headed off with her assistant, the only thing that she could think was that it was too good to be true. And when something seems to good to be true, that means it probably _isn't_ true. But after all of the pain Tsunade went through after The Incident, didn't she deserve to try? To see if it was true?

The resemblance, while not exact, was close. Not to mention the name! Again, not exactly the same as it used to be, but close. Out of habit, she reached towards her neck to touch the necklace she usually wore, but remembered that she had given it to Naruto. It could still be the same person. It could still be _him_. It almost added up, almost made sense, but there were doubts clouding the Fifth's mind. It was as if she was putting together a puzzle, looking at the image of what it should look like in the end. Some of the pieces were falling into place and she could see where they went, even connect them! But it was as if a few pieces were missing, too. The missing pieces were stopping her from getting the whole image.

His hair—light blue.

His eyes—dark, yet blue.

His last name—Kato.

It all fit together! But Tsunade had questions, too. So many questions. Just like Shizune said earlier.

"Shizune!" Tsunade snapped as they headed out of the village gate. "Do you think you can lead me to where the fights are taking place?"

Shizune's eyebrows came together. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Lady Tsunade."

"Did I ask for your advice? Just answer, yes or no. Can you lead me there?"

Tsunade's assistant was quiet and gazed at the sky, obviously in a trance and deep in thought. After a few moments, she muttered a quiet, "Yes."

Tsunade nodded. "Good. Than take me there."

Shizune's face was obviously painted with worry, but that didn't matter to Tsunade at the moment. All she cared about was the chance, of that one person, being there. Who cared if the chance was slim? A chance was a chance, after all, and they don't call her The Legendary Sucker for nothing.

OoOoOo

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke sent an enormous amount of flames at his opponent, who froze in his tracks upon seeing the jutsu. His opponent wondered how Sasuke was able to see him, let alone attack him. Nobody had ever been able to touch him because of his speed, until now, at least. His eyes widened as he realized what the jutsu meant. He was a Uchiha. _Sharingan_. Of course!

While he realized what was going on, it was too little too late. Sasuke's jutsu engulfed his opponent, a deadly attack. There would be no surviving _that. _Once the flames cleared, Sasuke was surprised to see that there was no body nor any evidence of the ninja that Sasuke faced. He was just . . . gone. There was a mere pile of rubble left. It was just rubble, though. Not ash. The ninja had ran away and escaped . . . .

Sasuke examined the area to see if his opponent was still there, but saw no signs of him. Confident that he wasn't anywhere hiding, Sasuke laid back and relaxed while he watch his teammates finish up their matches. Sasuke couldn't help and honestly didn't want too. He would risk triggering the curse mark. Besides, everyone looked like they had everything under control. That was, everyone except Shino.

OoOoOo

When Shino thought that he would fight fire with fire, he didn't mean it literally.

Fire simply wasn't practical in this situation. It only hurt his bugs. That was why Shino was extremely nervous when Sasuke decided to use his Fireball Jutsu while in the close proximity of Shino. Didn't he have the sense to realize that it would hurt his bugs? The bugs from Shino's clone shrunk away from the fire and dispersed in all possible directions. As Shino's clone disappeared, his opponent realized it was not him and began looking for the real Shino.

So much for a sneak attack.

Shino needed a new plan. He closed his eyes behind his glasses in concentration. He _would_ win. That was a given. He just needed a new way to do so.

He put his ear to the ground to see how many people were in the clearing. One less . . . Shino could only hope that the missing one was foe, not friend.

It was then that an idea struck Shino. He couldn't attack with his bugs yet. They were a little freaked by the fire. _But_ he could get things ready for them, in the meantime. All he had to do was box his opponent in and the bugs would do the rest. Usually, he had his bugs to help him out with the boxing-in, but that couldn't be helped now. Just make the best of it.

Shino collected chakra in his fist and knocked a tree down. His opponent, thinking this was a clue to where Shino was, ran towards the fallen tree. But what his opponent didn't know that Shino had already jumped over his opponent, knocking down the tree behind his opponent. The two trees were parallel.

His opponent turned around, unsure of Shino's true location. He ran towards the left opening between the trees, hoping for an escape, but Shino simply knocked another tree in the way. He did the same for the final open side. Now, the trees formed a square.

Shino stood on a branch high above the center of the square, smiling down at his opponent. Rather than attacking Shino, his opponent ran to jump over one of the branches. Wrong move.

While Shino's bugs were freaked, there were still the bugs in the area, living inside of the trees. When the trees hit the ground, it upset the bugs. Shino controlled these bugs and contained them inside the trees for the time being. When his opponent jumped over the branch, he let the bugs free. They swarmed his opponent, engulfing him. A few of Shino's own bugs flew towards his opponent, ready for a chakra-meal. Shino smirked.

Checkmate.

OoOoOo

Kiba and Akamaru had formed the Two-Headed Wolf and were so prepared to whoop some kidnapping-creepy-ninja's butt.

"Wolf Fang Over Fang!" Kiba exclaimed as he and Akamaru attacked. They followed the scent of Akamaru's . . . dynamic markings that had been strategically placed on the opponent. All they had to do was trace the scent and bingo! They were ready to win.

Somehow, the combo missed. The opponent got out of the way in time to avoid the deadly attack. Lucky for him. Not so lucky for Kiba and Akamaru.

Kiba fretted inside the mind of the wolf. They only had one more chance before the jutsu would collapse. This technique completely drained Kiba of chakra, so if this next hit missed, it was all over. Why had he decided to use the technique? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

This one had to count. Kiba told Akamaru that this one was for all the dog food. All or nothing. Win or lose. Life or death. That kind of thing. No pressure, though.

The wolf lowered its head to the ground and sniffed, following the scent. If only they got a little closer, they could ensure that the attack would be a direct hit.

The wold growled as it got closer. Maybe, if they intimidated the opponent, he wouldn't run. Kiba realized he was on to something when his opponent froze. Wasting no time, Kiba prepared for his next and final move.

"Wolf Fang Over Fang!" he exclaimed once again as he attacked his opponent. Just as planned, he _nailed_ his target. He would almost pity him. That was, if he wasn't trying to kill Kiba and Akamaru.

With a cloud of smoke, Kiba and Akamaru were back to their regular forms. Kiba flew onto his back as Akamaru jumped on his chest. "We did it, Akamaru!" The new jutsu was a success.

It was nice to know that not _all_ training was a waste of time.

OoOoOo

Kenji jumped out of the shadows, charging at Hiashi. Unbeknown to Kenji, Hiashi, because of his Byakugan, knew that Kenji was coming.

If Hiashi could pull a kunai on him, there would be no need to waste anymore chakra. He would have to wait for just the right moment, though.

If he pulled it too soon, Kenji could evade it.

If he pulled it too late, Hiashi could be dead before he could hit his mark.

Yes, he had to time it just right and pretend he didn't see the light brown-haired ninja come for him.

He took a deep breath as Kenji came closer and closer to him.

Hiashi waited.

And waited.

And waited until the moment was right. When Kenji was merely inches away, Hiashi turned around and plunged the kunai into his stomach with a battle cry. Kenji's cry of pain mirrored his own. Hiashi let go of the kunai and Kenji dropped to the ground in a heap, his eyes frozen wide in fear. Pure fear.

It was then, as Hiashi looked at the dying figure, that he realized how truly young the boy was. There must have been a jutsu cast on him to alter his appearance because he obviously wasn't as tall as he had appeared. All the hatred and fierceness left his face and he looked truly innocent. He couldn't be any older than Hinata and her teammates, nor any taller.

Hiashi closed the young boy's. He felt remorse. The boy was so young; it shouldn't have had to come to this.

OoOoOo

Hiashi, Sasuke, Shino, and Kiba met up.

Kiba smiled and put his fist in the air triumphantly. "We did it!" Akamaru barked with Kiba.

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "Now what?"

"We catch up to Hinata, of course," Shino said. He looked at Hiashi and told him, "I understand if you do not want to continue on."

Hiashi looked at the Genin in sheer amazement. Who did he think he was, telling Hiashi what he could or couldn't do? Hiashi calmed down immediately, though, when he realized this was just the out he was looking for. He nodded at the trio. "Thank you for your help." Hiashi gulped. That wasn't easy to say. "I trust that you can carry out the mission on your own. I have to report back to the village immediately." That was all he said before he left.

Kiba called Hiashi some names under his breath. Shino looked at him with disapproval, while Sasuke smirked. He was starting to like Dog-Boy a little more.

Sasuke looked at Shino and Kiba. "Do you guys think that between your dog, your sense of smell, and your bugs that you can locate Hinata? I don't want to use up anymore chakra."

Shino and Kiba both thought that Sasuke was just being lazy. Sasuke didn't mind them thinking that, even though the real reason was to not trigger the mark. Let them think what they want to think.

The three set off, once again, into the woods. Without any interferences this time, they came upon their goal much quicker than last time.

They were a decent distance away from the clearing when Shino stopped them and spoke.

"It's right up ahead. The place where Hinata is."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kiba asked. "Let's go!"

"You can't just go running in like last time," Sasuke growled. Akamaru growled back.

"Stop it," Shino said and turned to Kiba. "He has a point, though. This isn't just another fight. This is about Hinata's _life_. So listen."

Kiba's face became serious and he nodded, along with Sasuke.

"I sent a couple bugs in to gather information. Hinata is hurt, but not fighting anymore. Neji is

in a pretty serious fight with this other blue-haired nin. The bugs also sense someone else not far from

here, on their way as well."

Sasuke nodded. "I think we should all go to Hinata, first, then. While we still can."

"Yeah, she is out first priority," Kiba agreed.

The boys ran towards the clearing. At first sight, it was apparent that Neji was in close-combat with a blue-haired man and obviously had the upper-hand. The blue-haired man was fighting with just a kunai and only using his left arm. Neji must have hit points in his chakra network.

As the trio entered the clearing, Kiba began to call out to Hinata, but stopped when he saw what was going on in the combat. Neji had a kunai to the blue-haired man's throat and was prepared to end it. Before Kiba had the chance to say anything, none other than Lady Tsunade and Shizune appeared themselves. Lady Tsunade cried out to the two ninja fighting.

"Dan! Dan Kato! I know it's you, no matter what you call yourself!"

**A/N: There you have it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thought it was funny that I wrote the first half of this in less than a half-hour (it just kind of flowed), but it took two hours to write the draft of the other half. Remember to click the little button below this and review, please! Every review really does make my day, so don't hesitate to tell me what you thought. Bye!(:**


	13. The Emotions

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry that it's been a while since I've updated. I've had horrible writer's block. Every time I sat down to write, I wasn't happy with it. Finally, I decided to make a list of exactly what I wanted said and done and wrote based off of that. Then, I edited that. Here's the product! The next chapter! I'm pretty happy with it, though I admit I'm sure it could be better. I wanted to get it uploaded as quick as I could. So, without anymore delay, here is the next chapter!**

Hidden Away

Chapter Eleven

"Dan! Dan Kato! I know it's you, no matter what you call yourself!" Shizune heard Tsunade scream.

That one little sentence clicked something in Shizune's mind. It was as if the last puzzle piece had been put into place. Everything made sense. Everything connected. Shizune looked back at the man, her _uncle_. He looked extremely different. His hair, for one, was much shorter, yet still had the light sky blue hue to it. In stature, he was much shorter than Shizune remembered. He used to tower over everybody, but now appeared just barely taller than Lady Tsunade and herself. Overall, though, he still looked like the same man she knew, missed, and loved. Shizune was slightly disappointed in herself for not realizing the resemblance sooner like Lady Tsunade had.

Of course, Lady Tsunade had been close to Dan. Probably closer than Shizune, which she hated to admit. They met one day after Lady Tsunade's plan of having one medical ninja assigned to each squad was denied. Dan Kato had stood up for her idea, which was inevitably denied due to lack of available training and funding. But, they met afterward. Turns out they both lost someone dear to them, which could have been helped if medical attention was administered sooner. Through this similarity, they connected with each other, each drawn to the other for those similar qualities. They fell in love. That's why is was traumatizing for Lady Tsunade when Dan Kato, the love of her life, died in combat. Even Lady Tsunade's medical skills could not save him.

Then how was he here? Not that Shizune was complaining, but he was supposed to be _dead_. Also, why was he masquerading as another man, calling himself Akira Kato?

Neji Hyuga, who was currently holding a kunai to said man's throat, also heard the scream directed towards Dan/Akira. His attention diverted, he looked at the source of it, none other than the blond Sannin. This, of course, was just the opening that the blue-haired man was looking for. Shizune gazed in horror as he grabbed Neji's wrist with his good hand, twisted it, and grabbed the kunai previously threatening himself, redirecting it towards the pale-eyed ninja.

"Stop!" Tsunade screamed as she ran towards the man she assumed to be Dan. "Don't do this!" Shizune would have interfered. In fact, she would have loved to. It would be the smart thing to do to grab Lady Tsunade and stop her from getting in the middle of the conflict. Doing so would be nice, but was sadly impossible, considering her brute strength possessed by her that could snap Shizune like a twig. Not that Lady Tsunade would do that to Shizune, but the point remained that it would be enough power to easily stop her at the bare minimum. So, with a sigh, Shizune started to follow the Hokage. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Shizune paused to assess the situation. On the outskirts of the area, three Leaf Genin were observing. The three "missing" Leaf Genin, to be precise. Dan held a kunai towards Neji Hyuga. Lady Tsunade was running towards the two. Behind Neji Hyuga, propped up by a bush, was none other than Hinata Hyuga, obviously wounded. At this point, Shizune was confronted with conflicting emotions.

She wanted to run towards Dan Kato, her _uncle_. He was supposed to be dead! For him to turn up here, in the middle of all the mayhem and fights, made absolutely no sense. Yet, Shizune didn't care if it made sense or not. As she looked at his face, all of the memories came back. She didn't care if he didn't look the same. She didn't care if his height was shortened, or if his hair was cut shorter. She didn't care if his face held more hatred than she ever thought possible. Because despite all of the flaws and commodities, he was still _there_. That was never supposed to happen, never supposed to have been possible. Who cared if he was different? Maybe dying and coming back did that to you. Shizune didn't care, that was for sure. She was just grateful. Immensely grateful for him to be there.

Shizune needed to run after Lady Tsunade. She was her assistant, her apprentice, and should be backing her up, no matter what plan it was the Hokage had thought up in that mind of hers. Then again, Lady Tsunade did not need much backing up. Her strength and power were unheard of, insanely strong.

Shizune knew that she should go after Hinata Hyuga. She did not know the extent of the girl's injuries, which could range from minor to life-threatening. Either way, Shizune should find out and react and treat accordingly. That is what Shizune _should_ do, but her entire mind and body fought against it. She didn't want to be on the sidelines. This was finally something that concerned her, her _family_, and she should be in the action. She had more of a right than Tsunade ever would, although Shizune would never repeat that out loud.

With a sigh, Shizune decided that it didn't matter. Someone needed healing, and Lady Tsunade was obviously preoccupied and not planning on changing that. Somebody had to do it, and sadly, that somebody would have to be Shizune. She only hoped that Lady Tsunade could handle the situation as rationally as Shizune did.

When Shizune reached Hinata, she realized that the young Genin had fallen unconscious. Upon scanning and analyzing the trauma to her body, it was no surprise.

There was a deep cut on each cheek, a line of dry blood streaking from each. While they were not bleeding anymore, she had lost a lot of blood.

Hinata had also lost almost all of her chakra; she was down to almost zero. It was a surprise that she hadn't collapsed sooner.

There were many other minor injuries covering her entire body. Individually, they were not dangerous to her health, but with the amount that she had, it was obviously taking a tole on her.

Shizune healed all of the minor injuries without a problem. When she healed the cuts on the girl's face, two small, pink scars were left in place. Shizune cursed herself for not having any medical pills with her. There was nothing she could do for the girl to help with the depletion of her chakra reserves. Something had to be done about it soon, though. Hinata had not woken up yet, and most likely wouldn't until she got better medical care or rested for a few hours. Neither of those were an option at the moment.

Having done all she could for Hinata, Shizune called the three Genin over. "Kiba, Shino, Sasuke!" she yelled for them. The three Genin easily got past Dan, Tsunade, and Neji, as they were very preoccupied at the moment, to say the least.

Neji was on the ground behind Lady Tsunade; he had obviously been pushed by her. Lady Tsunade stood proud and strong, in a heated debate with Dan. Even when they were together, years ago, this was not something new. They often talked about their opinions on topics with each other in the form of debates. This time, though, there faces held no playfulness. They were serious, their countenance full of anger towards the other.

"Watch Hinata," Shizune ordered the three Genin. She stood up and faced Lady Tsunade and Dan. Over her shoulder, she said, "And don't interfere! Stay where you are!" With that, Shizune ran towards the debate. She stood by Lady Tsunade's side.

"I don't believe that," she heard Lady Tsunade tell Dan.

"Oh? That's to bad," Dan responded with a sneer. "Because it's true.

Shizune shook her head in disgust. "What happened to you, Dan?" she asked.

"Stay out of this, Shizune!" Lady Tsunade yelled at her assistant.

Shizune was taken aback. She had every right to be there, with Dan and Tsunade. She was related to him, after all. Besides, Lady Tsunade was treating Shizune like she was a Genin getting in the way! Still, Shizune didn't respond. Dan just chuckled. "Trouble in paradise?" he asked.

Shizune could tell that Lady Tsunade was working to keep her cool. "Come back with us," she tried to reason. "It doesn't have to be like this. The village will accept you with open arms. Just come home, Dan! Please, come home."

Dan was silent for a couple moments and looked down. Shizune wondered if he was pondering the offer. She sincerely hoped he would take it. That would mean that there was still hope.

"The Leaf Village . . . is no longer home," Dan said. "I will never return. If I return, the Leaf Village will be destroyed."

Lady Tsunade gulped. Was that a threat? "But I thought that you wanted to protect the Leaf Village and all of its citizens! That was your dream, remember?" Lady Tsunade stepped forward and put her hands on his shoulders. "To be Hokage . . . that was your dream."

Shizune couldn't help but find irony in that situation. In the end, Lady Tsunade was the one who became Hokage, while Dan died. She wondered if becoming Hokage was Tsunade's way of preserving Dan's memory, of making sure everything he did and wanted to do was not in vane.

Dan dismissed Lady Tsunade, shaking her away from him. "You don't understand."

"Than make me understand!"

Dan shook his head. "It's not that simple. I have a new home now, one that recognized me more than the Leaf Village ever did. They offered me the chance to . . . ," Dan stopped mid-sentence. "Why should I have to explain it to you? You _can't_ understand. There's just too much to it. Besides, it doesn't really matter. What matters is my mission."

Lady Tsunade was obviously fazed by the immediate change in topic. "What mission?" she asked suspiciously.

"It doesn't matter," Dan told her. "I must leave, now. Hinata Hyuga will come with me. If you don't want anyone to die, you will comply and not interfere."

Shizune couldn't stay silent any longer. "You can't take her away, Dan!" she exclaimed.

"Stop calling me Dan!" he boomed. "That is no longer my name."

"I don't care if you call yourself Dan or Akira," Lady Tsunade said. "You will always be Dan Kato to me. You will always be the man I fell in love with, the man who fell in love with me. Nothing can change that. Not even death."

"Death changes everything," he rebutted. "Unless you want more death, me and the girl are leaving."

"But you can't take her!" Shizune desperately screamed, trying to make a breakthrough. "She's injured, on the brink of death because of _you_." Shizune knew that she was exaggerating, but it wasn't like there was anybody who knew better that could say so in the vicinity. "I need to take her away for immediate medical treatment, or else. What good is a dead hostage? Besides, you saw what happened the last time you tried to negotiate with her." Shizune made sure not to mention that there _was _a way the Hyuga girl would be useful in death: her bloodline. Hopefully, since he had Neji, Dan would overlook that. Maybe, if all went well, Neji would stay in the Leaf Village, home.

Dan paused, thinking that over. Before he could say anything, Lady Tsunade spoke up.

"Take me instead."'

"What? No, Lady Tsunade-" Shizune said , but was interrupted.

"Shut up, Shizune! I'm not talking to you." she looked towards Dan. "I propose a trade. Hinata Hyuga for myself. Let Shizune take Hinata and the other three Genin back to the Leaf Village, and I will go back to your village of my own free will. No hassle. No struggle."

Dan was silent for a few more moments before uttering a feeble, "Fine."

Shizune was outraged. "I'm not leaving, Lady Tsunade! This concerns me, too!"

"Somebody needs to take the Genin home, Shizune. Besides, we can't both go. I apologize. But, as Hokage, I am telling you to take the Genin back and stay home. That is an order."

Shizune nodded. She did not like how this was going at all. She just had to have faith in Lady Tsunade that she could fix this whole mess and bring Dan home.

When Shizune went to the Genin, she saw the reluctance in their faces. They did not want to leave either. After putting on her scariest face, she told them that if they stayed here any longer they would be sent back to the Academy faster than they could throw a kunai. Disgruntled, they followed Shizune home.

Shizune looked over her shoulder at Dan and Tsunade, who were heading in the opposite direction. She also noticed Neji Hyuga following loosely behind the two.

"Please, Lady Tsunade. Bring them home. All of them."

OoOoOo

Overall, Tsunade hated the entire situation. She didn't want to have to leave the Leaf Village. She wouldn't have done it if she wasn't one-hundred percent sure that she would be returning. The look in Shizune's eyes was almost enough to kill Tsunade inside. While it made Shizune upset, it was necessary. Tsunade had to be the one to bring Dan home because she was the only one who knew.

Shizune hadn't put it together as quick as Tsunade did, and Tsunade wasn't even sure that her assistant had put _everything_ together. Dan Kato was alive, that was for sure. He may not be the same, that could be agreed upon, but he was still alive once more. And if Dan was back, what if Nawaki was too?

Nawaki.

Tsunade's younger brother. Both Dan and Nawaki shared the same dream: to be Hokage. Maybe that was what drew Dan to Tsunade. Who knew? All Tsunade knew was that if there was a chance she could have both of them back, she couldn't let it go. She would fight for that chance as hard as she could and more. No matter how slim the chance, Tsunade would chase it, if it was the last thing she did. She had lost the most dear people to her once and it would not happen again. Dan and Nawaki would not slip through her fingers.

As Tsunade followed Dan to the new village, Neji lingering behind, she thought about their previous conversation.

_-Flashback-_

_ Tsunade ran towards Dan, more hopeful than she had ever been before his death. Her hope escaped her though, replaced with fear, as he took Neji Hyuga's kunai and redirected it at him._

_ "Stop! Don't do this!" she screamed, her emotion evident in every word. She didn't care about being the calm, collected, formal Hokage anymore. Dan Kato brought her back to earlier days, a time when she didn't need a jutsu to look young. A time when she _was _young. Emotional. Even loving._

_ Tsunade had to stop Dan before he made a mistake he might regret later. She wouldn't let him kill Neji. It didn't matter to Tsunade if Neji had defected from the Leaf Village; Dan Kato would not have anyone's blood on his hands tonight. The Leaf would never accept him home if he did so._

_ Dan was obviously surprised when Tsunade screamed to him. For a moment, all of the hate left his face He dropped the kunai and looked at his hands as if he was shocked at what he was doing with them. For the first time since before he died, Dan Kato looked vulnerable._

_ "Dan," Tsunade gasped when she was closer to him. "Dan!" As she neared the love of her life, Neji ran towards him too, but obviously for different reasons. For murderous reasons. Well, Tsunade couldn't let that happen. Gathering all of her strength in her finger tips, she flicked Neji Hyuga in the forehead, making him fly backwards on the ground onto his butt. He looked up at her surprised. She simply gave him the scariest look she could muster up, telling him with her eyes to stay out of it._

_ Redirecting her attention at Dan, she smiled in his direction, genuinely happy to see him. It must not have been the same case for him, though, because once he looked up into her eyes, he frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together. "What are you doing here?" he asked her with an annoyed tone._

_ Tsunade wasn't sure what to say. Her smile slowly faded as she realized this wouldn't be the happy reunion she was hoping for. "I missed you, Dan," she said honestly._

_ Dan adverted his gaze to the side. "I am no longer Dan Kato. Where I live, I go by Akira instead."_

_ "But . . . why?" she asked._

_ "Why what, exactly?" he responded._

_ "Why . . . did you leave me?"_

_ Dan paused. "Isn't it obvious? I died." His voice was harsh and held none of the passion it used to._

_ "But you're not dead anymore," she told him. "So come back with me. We can be together once more."_

_ "I can't, Tsunade. Nothing is the same anymore. I have a new place where I belong."_

_ "How can you say that?" she questioned. "How can you leave behind everything we had? Everything we could have? I loved you, Dan. I thought you loved me to." Her voice cracked. "When you died, I thought everything was over, that my world collapsed. I can't even stand blood anymore because the blood when you died was overwhelming. I can't lose y-" Tsunade's voice cracked once more, so she started over. "I still love you, Dan."_

_ Dan laughed. He _laughed_. There Tsunade was, declaring her undying love for him, literally, and he laughed in her face. "You really haven't grown up, have you, Tsunade? I don't love you. Loving you was a child's game. All of this," he said gesturing around. "This is bigger than you and me, bigger than your so-called 'love'."_

_ "I don't believe that," she told him. Love like theirs didn't just end like that._

_ "Oh? That's too bad," Dan responded with a sneer. "Because it's true."_

_ -End Flashback-_

And then Shizune had shown up, and Dan really lost his temper. It was no wonder, after all. Shizune was his niece, and that was a love that didn't just go away, either. Still, Tsunade couldn't help but wonder what was so important that he would give up everything for it.

OoOoOo

When Hinata Hyuga woke up, four pairs of eyes were inches away from her face. Or, more accurately, three pairs of eyes and sunglasses, for Shino was one of them. The other three were Kiba, Shizune, and surprisingly, Sasuke Uchiha. Surprised to wake up with people huddled so close to her, Hinata emitted a small yelp and shrunk away into her covers instinctively. Surprisingly, the movement did not cause pain. She must have been healed.

Looking around the room, Hinata confirmed her suspicion. She was in the hospital.

"She's awake," observed Shino.

With a chuckle, Kiba added, "And easy to scare as ever. Glad to know Hinata's back to her old self and okay."

"Hn," Sasuke added, leaning against the back wall. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, as if he was trying to make himself scarce. Funny, usually Hinata was the one wanting to disappear.

Shizune was looking at various machines and writing things down. In her head, Hinata mused that it was weird that Shizune was here and not Tsunade. After a couple moments of evaluation, Shizune stated, "Hinata is almost completely healed. Another night in the hospital wouldn't hurt, though. Then she can leave."

Kiba pumped his fist in the air. "Yeah! Did you hear that, Hinata! You can come home soon!" After a pause, Kiba added in a more serious tone, "We're glad you're okay, Hinata. Shino and I were really worried about you." A bark was heard from inside Kiba's jacket as Akamaru hopped out and onto Hinata's hospital bed. As he snuggled up next to her, wagging his tail, Kiba said, "Akamaru, too."

Shino nodded in Hinata's direction. "Welcome back." Shino was always so serious. But that was her squad—Kiba, the energetic one, Shino, the serious one, and Hinata, the timid one.

Hinata was glad that her teammates welcomed her back. She was very worried that they would disapprove and call her a weakling. She should have known better, though. Shino and Kiba were her friends.

"T-thank you," she said, after she realized they were waiting for her to say something.

After a moment of awkward silence, Shizune spoke up. "Well, I guess I'll leave you four to become reacquainted."

Four? Then, Hinata remembered that Sasuke was there, too. Shino obviously caught her staring questionably in his direction.

"Sasuke helped Kiba and I when we went after you," he told her.

"Y-you came for m-me?" Hinata asked. She was flattered, and her face showed it as it glowed a soft red color. She didn't think her teammates thought enough of her to leave the village to find her.

"You really don't know anything about what happened, do you?" she heard a voice from the back of the room ask. Sasuke.

"I k-know a l-lot, thank y-you!" she defended herself. Sasuke just sighed in response. In a meek, smaller voice, Hinata asked, "W-what else _did_ h-happen?" she swore she heard a laugh coming from the back of the room and looked down, embarrassed.

Kiba chuckled, but not in a mean way like Sasuke had. "Well, what do you know?" asked Shino. "It would be easier to start there."

Hinata thought back to where it all began. She explained how she became wounded at the clearing originally and hid, although she was ashamed of it. She watched everyone leave. That was when she met Gaara. She left out the part of their conversations and skipped straight to where he took her to the mini-village and betrayed her.

At that point, Hinata swore she heard Kiba growl, but then again, it could have been Akamaru. Trying not to let that discourage her, Hinata continued on with her story.

She explained how she met the blue-haired man who called himself Akira and how he took her for negotiations with her father. With a sad face, she explained how her father did not think enough of Hinata to even bargain for a trade.

Her teammates obviously sensed her discomfort on the subject. "Just keep going," Kiba urged her. "It's fine."

Hinata nodded. She wasn't sure why she let her father get to her. He had _always _thought of her as a disappointment—nothing new.

Continuing on, Hinata told them about how she escaped from Akira and his men, only to be found once more by Akira. She told them how they fought and how Hinata thought she had won. That was, until Akira pulled out his kunai. Having used her best move and begin depleted of chakra, Hinata could do nothing. She thought it was over.

That was, until Gaara and Neji showed up, to her surprise. Neji told her she had done well, which was more Hinata could ever hope for. Another Hyuga actually approved of Hinata, even if only for a moment. Technically, Neji had defected, though.

Hinata explained how Gaara and Neji were both a part of the mini-village. They had been offered something to join, although Hinata wasn't sure what.

Lastly, she told how Gaara said he was going on to help out Hinata's father, who Akira said was under attack. Neji stayed behind to fight Akira and told Hinata to rest, that he would handle the fight.

Then Hinata passed out.

She took a deep breath.

The entire room was quiet.

Why weren't they saying anything?

"K-kiba? S-shino?" she asked tentatively. They both looked in her direction. They had been whispering with each other, which only added to Hinata's self-consciousness. "Y-you're not . . . a-ashamed of m-me, are you?"

Both boys stared at her in amazement. "No," Shino told her. "Quite the opposite, actually."

"We're proud of you, Hinata. You did great! You really have grown," Kiba told her.

"T-then what w-were you whispering a-about?" she asked.

Kiba looked troubled. "The thing is, you said Gaara left you and Neji to go find Hiashi, right?"

Hinata nodded.

"Well," Kiba continued. "Shino, Sasuke, and I caught up with Hiashi. He was being attacked by four enemy nin. The four of us fought them, defeated them, then met you guys at the clearing. And Gaara _never _caught up with us. We never even saw him."

Hinata looked down. If Gaara hadn't met up with them, then where had he gone? Before Hinata could ask the boys more questions about what happened to _them_, Shizune came into the room.

"It's late," Shizune said. "Let Hinata sleep. I bet you're worrying her. You can see her in the morning when you take her home."

Sasuke was the first person out the door without saying a word. Shino nodded in Hinata's direction and told her good-bye. Kiba, after telling Hinata good-bye also, lingered in the doorway for a second. Deciding to comply, though, he left. Shizune smiled at Hinata and followed behind the boys, closing the door as she went.

Hinata laid in her hospital bed thinking. Gaara hadn't met up with her father. Neji didn't come back with them.

They were the only two who were willing to stay with Hinata, to fight for her, and they were gone. But where?

The only place Hinata could imagine them going was back to the mini-village. That could be dangerous for them, though. The leader there was Akira, the very man they stood up for Hinata for. He would be angry, and Hinata already saw that Akira wasn't the nicest man.

Well, Hinata had to do the right thing. She stood up slowly, making sure nothing pained her. It seemed that her injuries were perfectly healed, though. It's not like she would have slept overnight anyway. Hinata had slept too long already. She stood by the window of the hospital room, becoming unsure of herself.

Once she left, there might not be any coming back. In the end, that didn't really matter, though. Everyone had always risked everything for her. For once, it was time for Hinata to risk it for someone else. For the one person who finally acknowledged her after a long time of discouragement. For another who was a wild card, a mystery.

Sure, Hinata realized it wasn't the smartest move. But if she ever wanted people like her father and Naruto to acknowledge her, she had to start doing things, too. Just surviving wasn't enough, so Hinata made a new vow.

She would be brave.

**A/N: There you have it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I must admit, it was weird writing in Hinata's perspective after so long of not. I think I got back into the rhythm of it though, so to speak. Make sure to tell me what you thought of this chapter in a review! I must say, I was slightly disappointed at getting less reviews than usual last chapter. Maybe that's also why I wasn't as motivated. Thank you those who did review, though! To everyone else, please review! **


	14. The Assurance

**A/N: Did you miss me? I know this update is extremely late, as per usual, it seems. I could give you some excuse on how busy I was, but honestly, I was just being lazy and procrastinating. You could say I'm like Shikamaru (insert winky face here)! Anyway, enjoy the next chapter!**

Hidden Away

Chapter Twelve

When Gaara and Neji arrived at the clearing, Gaara was surprised, to say the least, when he saw Hinata fighting with none other than Akira. He had never thought her to be the kind of person who engaged in combat often, let alone to be _winning_ against an opponent as tough as him. To say the least, Gaara was in awe, a feeling very unfamiliar to him. He wasn't the kind of person to acknowledge another verbally, so the former sand nin even surprised him self when the girl's name slipped his lips in a quiet whisper of pure amazement.

At Gaara's side, Neji Hyuga, the girl's "cousin", seemed to be even more shocked than Gaara.

"How?" he asked.

How indeed? Just days earlier, the very same girl was taken down in combat by one horribly-aimed kunai to the shoulder. She was helpless in battle and unable to aid her teammates. In other words, she was dead weight. Yet, the girl in front of Gaara's eyes was most definitely _not_ dead weight. She was currently using a technique specific to the Hyuga clan, which obviously affected Neji. Gaara could see many emotions on his face: jealousy, anger, and pure amazement, like Gaara had previously experienced. Yes, "How?" was the perfect question to ask the girl who's skills had multiplied immensely in a matter of days. Where did her strength come from?

As Gaara pondered that question, it became apparent that the strength the girl had acquired was not enough to stand up to Akira. He tricked her. Appearing out of nowhere, Akira cornered her and held a kunai to her throat.

Gaara didn't think, only acted, as he sent an unreasonable amount of sand towards Akira to shake him off of Hinata. It was a move similar to Gaara's Sand Tsunami Jutsu, but less controlled and more wild, even feral, because of emotion. The sand hit its mark, but also grazed the shoulder of the girl's shoulder. Gaara silently cursed himself for that, not because he regretted hitting her, but because it could blow his cover completely. The sand was not supposed to be able to touch her. That was one facade Gaara was supposed to uphold. If anyone noticed the small glitch, everything that Gaara had been working towards could crumble in an instant.

Gaara was surprised at his actions, to say the least. He wasn't sure exactly why he saved the girl. To his side, Neji looked at Gaara quizzically. It was apparent that Neji was ready to attack and come to the girl's aid in Gaara's stead. His very eyes seemed to ask, "Why? Why did you save her?"

When Neji told Gaara to go help out Hinata's father, Gaara jumped at the chance to get away. He had caused enough trouble for himself. He was digging himself deeper in a hole he had no business being in and didn't _want_ to be in.

As he floated away on a blanket of sand, Gaara admitted that he had no intentions whatsoever of "helping" like he had said. The well-being of the girl's father was of no consequence to Gaara, and frankly didn't matter to him at all. If he died, fine. It he didn't, than fine, also. Gaara had more important things to do and this opportunity was the best he would get. This was the golden opportunity for Gaara to return home and reassess the situation at hand. He could figure out which people would help progress his goal ultimately and what actions were necessary to do so. Gaara didn't care about anyone. Ultimately, he had to ensure the well-being of himself. If that meant endangering the Hyuga Princess, then so be it. It wasn't as if Gaara was really playing by Akira's rules anymore anyways.

Gaara decided that the mini-village would be the best place to go for the time being. They would probably place him in a holding-cell for a small amount of time, but that wasn't an issue in the end. It would be his punishment for being a "traitor". Gaara knew that they wouldn't kill him, though. He, the village's "weapon", was far to important in the grand scheme of the village's goal. They just had to do _something_ so nobody thought he was getting off scotch-free. In addition, being in a cell for a day or so would give him time to think without anyone interfering. Yes, it would be perfect.

If anyone had reason to worry, it would be Neji Hyuga, his former roommate. His job in the village was almost complete, and soon, they would no longer require him. Once he was no longer needed, Neji would be disposed of. After all, there was no use in keeping someone who wasn't helping the village, right? That was the entire point of having no untalented civilians living there.

As it was, the village was hesitant on whether or not to "invite" Neji Hyuga to the village or not (It wasn't really an invitation, though. You could either accept a deal and join the village or die). His loyalty was greatly questioned; would he stick to the village, or stay loyal to his former home? In the end, an accord was made. They would offer Neji Hyuga a deal he could not refuse, as they had done with everyone else in the village, Gaara included. If Neji Hyuga joined the new village, they would be able to get rid of the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead—the one that bind him as a servant and a branch member of the Hyuga clan.

More than anything, Neji despised being in the branch family. He hated not being allowed to live up to his full potential. He hated being controlled. Most of all, he hated that every branch member had a set destiny—to protect the main branch, even if that meant dying. Ever since Neji's father died protecting the main branch, Neji resented the heads of the clan. If the village could free him of his servitude, than who was he to turn it down?

In return for getting rid of the seal, Neji would be one-hundred percent loyal to the village, whether he liked it or not. There were many other things that Neji was obliged to do in addition, but the main idea was to stay loyal and do as the village said.

The new village was powerful. Between stealing valuables from other villages and having extremely efficient citizens, they were able to easily surpass everyone. Through experiments that other villages dared not even try because they were declared "unethical", they acquired new information. Among these was the knowledge of how to break the seal.

Gaara wondered if Neji had realized that the offer towards him benefited the new village more than himself. Since Neji no longer had the seal protecting him (although he didn't see it as "protection"), his bloodline limit would be easily accessible for the village to take advantage and learn from once he died.

And now, the village had all the reason to kill the Hyuga boy. He attacked the "leader", Akira Kato, openly. Neji Hyuga was a traitor, and a traitor _could_ be punished by death.

OoOoOo

Tsunade, Dan, and Neji had traveled the rest of the journey to the new "village" in silence. Tsunade wasn't sure of what to say to Dan. It would be hard to persuade him to return to the village, since she didn't know everything she needed to about this new civilization. It wouldn't help to interrogate Dan while he was in a fowl mood, either, so for the time being, Tsunade had to wait. In addition, if Tsunade was perfectly honest with herself, she wasn't in the place to interrogate him in the first place. After all, she was the new "hostage".

Tsunade scoffed at the title. She was as much of a hostage as Naruto was the Hokage. Tsunade was, is, perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Now taking care of others as well, that was where the problems arose . . . .

Regardless of what it was called, the situation was veritable. Tsunade had taken the place of the Hyuga Heiress. Instead of she, Tsunade was on the way to the blossoming civilization, accompanied by none other than Dan Kato, the leader of the village, not to mention her supposed-to-be dead (ex?) boyfriend.

While Tsunade knew that she should stay quiet and not ask questions, it was difficult. She wanted nothing other than to bombard him with questions, or rather, one question. Was Nawaki alive, too? It would not bid Tsunade well to ask this question. If she wanted to survive, bring her comrades (possibly traitors) back alive, and relay information back to the Leaf Village, she must stay silent and observe her surroundings, keeping questions to a minimum, while keeping examinations and even snooping to a maximum.

When the opportunity arose, Tsunade would be ready to serve her village. But she couldn't take the easy way out and die like the Hokages before her; she actually had to make it back alive (so she could relay the information back to the village), making the task at hand that much harder. It would be the only way to make sure every part of her duty was correctly carried out, of course.

As Tsunade saw the village near on the horizon, she had a sinking feeling that all this mayhem was only the beginning. Only time would show how true this thought actually was.

Dan stopped their group when they got close to the entrance. He turned around to face them with a menacing glare.

"Don't even think about causing any trouble." Tsunade couldn't help but notice that as he said that, he glared more towards Neji than herself.

Tsunade met his menacing glare with one of her own. "Not worried about me, are you? Careful, you don't want to underestimate your opponent." Her words held a playfulness to them, but Tsunade knew it was just a facade.

Dan must have known it was just a facade, too. "You're hardly an opponent for me and besides, I know that you'll behave." He stared at her with a twinkle in his eye. "You have too much at stake," he said, his very eyes making an assumption.

How much did he actually know? Tsunade's front wavered, although she tried not to let it show. "I'm not the same girl you used to know, Dan." No, she was much stronger.

"Nor am I the same guy _you_ used to know, Tsunade," he countered.

It was a decent argument, so Tsunade decided to drop it. Besides, the conversation wasn't going anywhere of importance. No point in giving away her power simply to engage in silly banter. Yet, one thought nagged Tsunade's mind. After a moment of silence, she could hold it in no longer.

"If you still think of me as the little girl you used to know, then why would you ever make the trade?"

Dan chuckled. It was lighthearted and reminded her of the old him. "Don't you get it? It's all just a game. That other girl with the eyes similar to him," he said as he gestured to Neji. "Is no more important than him himself." At that statement, Neji flinched, as Tsunade wondered what exactly she was missing. Neji's bloodline trait was absolutely useless, unlike his cousin's. So how were they the same value?

"In fact, I'm not even that important. As to why I made the trade? I thought it would be fun," Dan said point-blank

Fun? _Fun?_ He was treating this situation as if it was a scenario in a game or a movie, something that could be rewound and redone. Life didn't work that way though. Tsunade had faced that reality the hard way . . . .

At this point, the trio were traveling through the village. Tsunade assessed her surroundings completely, taking in every detail she could from the roof-tops they were running across. You never know what miniscule detail will become important during an escape, after all.

"We will finish talking in private, when there is not ears listening in," Dan told Tsunade, while making a point of looking at Neji when he said the last part. Tsunade didn't want to act as if she was taking orders, so she did not respond or acknowledge him.

Tsunade was very surprised by the overall presentation of the village. For citizens who prided themselves in being strong and having no weak spots, the village was unimpressive, to say the least.

It was much smaller than the Leaf Village. The village itself only had a few dozen or so houses, no more than fifty. After thought, Tsunade figured that it made sense. The citizens of the village all had one or more specialization and were not worthless, so it made sense that each building would have a single purpose, too. Nothing in this village was wasted, it seemed. Maybe the Leaf could learn a thing or too from this small, rebellious place after all.

As they made their way to what Tsunade assumed was this village's imitation of a Hokage building (a much smaller imitation, at that), Tsunade paid close attention. She went back and forth between watching Dan and Neji and her surroundings. Tsunade was snapped back into reality as Dan stood in front of her, holding the door.

"Ladies first," he said in a sarcastic manner.

Tsunade slowly made her way through the entryway, but not before spatting at Dan first. Neji followed close behind her, while Dan made up the rear.

As Tsunade was about to ask which way to go, she realized that there was only one way _to_ go. The hallway in front of her led up a single staircase, which Tsunade could see led to another door. After giving Dan a slightly quizzical look, she sauntered up the staircase and walked into the room without invitation. Following suit, Neji and Dan were right behind her.

The three stood facing each other in the room, nobody talking. Dan was glaring at Neji, while Tsunade stood there crossing her arms. Neji looked off into space, or who knows where, obviously avoiding Dan's gaze. The room was uncomfortable and awkward. Tension hung in the air so thick it could be cut with a knife.

"Leave," Dan said abruptly. Tsunade stood in shock for a moment before she realized he was talking to Neji, not her.

Neji looked up. "Excuse me?"

"I said leave," Dan repeated. "You will be escorted away immediately. Do not protest, or else risk a bigger punishment."

Neji looked down. It was then that Tsunade made the connection between their conversation. Neji attacked Dan, who was the "leader". By all standards, that made him a traitor, and being a traitor resulted in a punishment no matter where you lived.

"And if I don't?" Tsunade heard Neji mumble. Then, in a firmer voice, he added, "I do not like being controlled."

In an instant, Neji was pushed against the door by the scruff of his shirt. "And I don't like being disobeyed," Dan said, his face contorted in a scowl, inches from the Hyuga boy's. As the door opened, Dan let go of him and walked to the far side of the room. Two ninja stood in the doorway, Neji now in their grasp.

"Take him to Holding Cell A01," Dan told them. "No need to guard it." At his orders, the two ninja left the room and shut the door, dragging a struggling Neji. The two ninja were obviously stronger though, and Tsunade had a hunch that just one of them could have easily restrained him.

Dan turned to Tsunade. "Tell me."

Tsunade crunched her eyebrows. "Tell you what?"

"Come on, Tsunade. You had to have known that me bringing you here wasn't just 'for fun'."

Tsunade slightly shook her head. "Then why?"

"You are the Hokage now, right?" Dan asked. Tsunade swore that their was a small hint of jealously in his eyes, but it disappeared quickly. Weirdly enough, Dan seemed like a different person when he was away from the others eyes. Not exactly the same as he used to be, but closer. Tsunade nodded in response to Dan's question, although it seemed rhetorical.

"Well then, you should know a what has happened since I've been gone," Dan told Tsunade.

Tsunade noted that he said "gone" instead of "dead", but didn't mention it. She explained to him new things, and reminded him of events he may have forgotten about, ranging from the Kyuubi's attack on the village (and defeat), to the invasion during the previous Chunin exams. It wasn't until she finished speaking that she paused to wonder why exactly she was telling him everything.

Dan simply nodded and began striding towards the door. Tsunade wanted to call out to him, to ask _him_ questions in return, but for some reason could not build up the nerve. She was frozen in place, mesmerized by his every movement.

One step.

Left foot forward.

Right foot forward.

It was as if Tsunade was making up for every moment she was cheated of, watching him as much as she could now to make up for it.

Dan took one more step. He was in front of the door now. If Tsunade wanted to ask a question, it was now or never.

Dan's hand reached towards the handle.

"Wait." It was only a quiet whisper, yet it still caught his attention. Dan froze for a moment before turning towards Tsunade's voice, towards Tsunade herself. He said nothing, only raised his eyebrows.

"It's my turn." Tsunade's voice was slightly louder this time and much more confident.

Dan cocked his head to the side. "For what, may I ask?"

"It's my turn . . . to ask you questions," Tsunade said.

"Oh, really?" Dan asked. "Do you really think that you're in the position to do so?"

Tsunade had wondered the same thing previously, but she didn't care anymore. She had so many questions and needed some answers. "I think I am precisely in the position to do so."

Dan lowered his eyebrows, a solemn look crossing his face. "I see," he said. His voice sounded slightly disappointed, for whatever reason. "Well, what are you waiting for then?"

Tsunade looked down for a moment, thinking about her words. "Your different," she observed.

"I am."

Biting her lip, a habit Tsunade had no memory of doing before, Tsunade asked, "Not just in your attitude, but your appearance, too. Yet you kept your last name."

"That's not a question," Dan told her. "But I will elaborate anyway. At least a bit. My appearance is the easiest thing to explain. I used jutsus to change my height and otherwise altered my appearance in very natural ways, such as hair cutting. As to why? I'm supposed to be dead. If somebody see's me, then my cover is blown. And for my name? I felt no need to change my first _and_ last."

Tsunade nodded. He had only confirmed her suspicions. "Your attitude-?"

"-hasn't really changed," Dan said.

It was Tsunade's turn to raise her eyebrows. "But you're so different. You act crueler. You seem to have none of the ambitions you used to have. Anyways, you threatened to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village!"

Dan shook is head. "I did no such thing," he denied.

Shaking her head back at Dan, Tsunade exclaimed, "But you said if you returned back to the Leaf Village, you would destroy it!"

"I said that if I returned to the Leaf Village, it would be destroyed, not that _I _would destroy it. There is a difference."

Tsunade's brows came together. "How else would it be destroyed?"

"Ah, Tsunade," Dan sighed. "I simply don't have the time for this."

"You always used to have time for me," Tsunade whimpered.

Dan turned back towards the door and put his hand on the handle. Tsunade swore heard him utter a quiet, painful, "I know," before he opened the door and left her there alone.

OoOoOo

It's one thing to promise to be brave, but another to actually go through with it. Hinata learned this truth while traveling to the mini-village.

After all, in the hospital room, she was wide awake and had recovered most of her chakra. It was easy to promise herself that she would succeed while she was resting in the comfort of her friends and trained medical staff. But once Hinata actually climbed out the window and began her journey, her resolve started to waver.

For one, she had absolutely no clue where to go. Playing hero had seemed like a good and fun idea at the time, yet once Hinata actually attempted it, it was near impossible. The only reason she had a faint clue where to look for the mini-village was her Byakugan.

Second of all, Hinata questioned her strength. Yes, Gaara and Neji could be in danger. Yes, no one else would help them. The problem still arose though: if Neji and Gaara didn't have the power to save themselves, what made Hinata think she even had a speck of a chance? There was no way Hinata could take on a whole village by herself.

But she had to try.

Hinata wanted everyone to think differently, and preferably better, of her. She wanted respect. If putting her life on the line for comrades was the only way to do so, then so be it. The would be the price to pay, because Hinata had decided that she would rather die brave than live cowardly.

As she rested her head on a tree trunk for a moment, Hinata realized her third problem. While she _thought_ she had rested well enough in the hospital, her chakra reserves were nowhere near their normal levels yet. Not to mention the fact that Hinata was using her Byakugan, had been using it for a while, and would probably have to _continue_ to use it, and Hinata was really pushing her luck.

The only thing that got her through was knowing that it was her only choice. She was firm on finding the mini-village again and the Byakugan was the only way to do so. So what if it depleted her energy? From now on, Hinata decided to take each problem as it arose.

By some stroke of luck, Hinata was able to find the mini-village before morning. At first, she wasn't sure what _ exactly_ she saw, just that she saw an area with an absolutely _enormous_ amount of chakra residing in it. Once she came closer to it, she realized it was a village. Not just any village, but _the_ village.

Not to mention the best part—it was still night. The dark would make it much easier to sneak into the village. If it was morning, the task would have been almost impossible and Hinata would have been forced to wait until the next nightfall. And who knows what all could happen in twelve hours? Everyone could be dead for all Hinata knew.

Shivering, the Hyuga Princess decided not to think about death anymore. It was the last thing she needed to dwell on, considering what she was trying to do.

Taking another moment to rest, Hinata devised a plan inside her head.

First of all, she would need a distraction, or else the chances of getting in were extremely thin at best. Hinata would also need to observe and find the best place on the perimeter to sneak in at, preferably with no or little guards in the vicinity. Once that was done, it would be a simple matter of running as quickly and quietly as possible to her destination.

So what kind of distraction could Hinata use?

A clone would be too obvious and would alert the mini-village. For that matter, any conspicuous ninja tools would be out of the question, too.

Overpowering the guards wouldn't be an option, either. Hinata doubted that she had the ability, and backup could easily be called. One more plan out of the question.

In the end, the only situation Hinata could see even slightly working out would be to take down all of the guards in one area at the exact same time. It would have to be completely silent, so the blow would have to be quiet and deadly, killing the enemy guards almost on impact.

Hinata was squeamish about killing, though, especially when there might be another option.

When Hinata remembered one of the few conversations she had with Naruto, her face beamed. She remembered one time, at Ichiraku, Naruto was telling her about a mission he had in the Land of Waves. In the Land of Waves, he battled a ninja named Haku, who knocked out an enemy (named Zabuza) and his partner, Sasuke, by using only senbon. Naruto had told her how quickly it had worked on Zabuza and how they thought Sasuke was dead.

Yes, using senbon would be perfect! With Hinata's Byakugan, she would be able to see exactly what point to hit in the neck to knock out the guards. As long as it was done fast, the plan should work out flawlessly.

Looking down, though, Hinata frowned. She never failed to mess up a perfectly good plan. She had proven that time and time again with her father and her teammates. The Hyuga Princess almost let herself have a moment of sorrow before she remembered her new vow.

She had to be brave and brave ninja do not cry. No matter what had happened in the past, Hinata would carry out the plan, for there was no other option.

Hinata could only hope for the best.

**A/N: I didn't get through near as much of the plot as I had intended. Both the plot in Tsunade's and Hinata's part of the chapter were supposed to progress much, much farther, but before I knew it I had filled up many, many word pages. If I had wrote all of the plot that I had intended to, this chapter would be triple the word count! I guess you wouldn't mind that, but it would have taken much longer to write, as you can imagine. Tell me what you thought of this chapter in a review! As always, compliments and criticism are accepted—just no flames please!(:**


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